Shadow of a Rainbow
by DigiExpert
Summary: Combining two unlikely concoctions forms Murky's greatest plan, one that won't fail this time. If he can drain Rainbow of her energy once and for all, Rainbow Land will be his for good, unless two unlikely companions can stop him in time. COMPLETE
1. An Ingenious Concoction

**This is my first time writing a story in the Rainbow Brite fandom, and I'm very pleased with it so far. I always depend on my readers for feedback and comments, so if there's anything out of place you might see, just let me know! I hope to be able to update pretty often as I see it right now, but I don't know. I'll soon be subbing, but we'll see how things turn out. I do have the entire story written out in a basic plot synopsis so the only thing to do is flush it out! Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Considering I was born shortly after this show ended, I truly don't own it or any future chapters.**

**Chapter 1: An Ingenious Concoction**

It was another beautiful Spring in Rainbow Land. Flowers were in bloom, the bright colors radiating across the fields as birds and other small woodland creatures fed their young ones. The sprites were happily mining away in the color cave, while the Color Kids sat diligently working inside the Color Castle. Rainbow, Starlite, and Twink were off on Earth, spreading color in the more dismal of places. On this day, they found themselves deep within a forest, the leafy foliage letting patches of sunlight through to the soft ground below.

"Oh wow," exclaimed Twink. "It's beautiful."

"Yes it is, Twink, but it still needs a little bit of help. Do you see that squirrel family over there?" asked Rainbow as she pointed to a nearby oak tree. "Look at their color."

Twink glanced up and saw the family, which moved slowly around the branches. They were dull grey in color. "They don't look very happy."

"They aren't as lively as they would be," added Starlite.

"We'll fix that," stated Rainbow. "Let me have some star sprinkles, Twink."

Twink handed over the star sprinkles and watched as Rainbow inserted them in her belt and let loose a rainbow beam that engulfed the squirrel family quickly before fizzling out. A bright brown pattern emerged on the squirrels' bodies and they scampered about happily, chattering to each other.

"That's much better," said Rainbow as she watched the family scamper off. She climbed aboard Starlite and pulled Twink up behind her. "We've still got more work to do before we can call it a day, Twink." She pressed her belt and Starlite galloped off on the rainbow beam that shot forth.

Meanwhile, deep in the Pits, Murky and Lurky were once again at work on another plan to get rid of Rainbow Brite and take over Rainbow Land. Murky sat hunched over his lab table, toying with various beakers and test tubes as he read quietly from a large tome he'd found deep within his lair. It had been one he'd not recalled having, but as he had flipped through it, he realized that it contained powerful concoctions that would almost certainly help him get rid of that color brat once and for all.

"What are you doing, Murky?" asked Lurky as he sat in a corner, playing with a football.

"I'm working on a plan, banana brain. I've got to get that Color Belt from Rainbow Brite. If I get that, then I can take over Rainbow Land and get rid of those disgusting colors!"

"But Murky, what if this one doesn't work? Like the others?"

Murky growled to himself. "Quiet you dolt! This one won't fail. It's practically foolproof." He poured two beakers together into a large container as Lurky made his way to the table to investigate. Lurky pressed his face close to the container that now held the combined concoction. "Murky, that's nothing new," declared Lurky as he poked at the container. "It looks like gloom water."

Murky snatched it away from him. "What would you know about my potions? Anyway, it's something new called the gloom shadow. With this, I can attach it to Rainbow Brite and slowly drain her of energy. The shadow will slowly grow bigger and darken her whole outlook on the world!"

Lurky scratched his head. "But Murky, what if they see it?"

Murky began to chuckle softly. "That's where this comes in," he replied as he snatched another container off the table that Lurky had not seen before. "This new book I found has given me the secret key to making my gloom inventions invisible. If I combine the two, Rainbow will never _know_ there's a gloom shadow attached to her, and neither will those silly Color Kids. Each day, she'll weaken until I can easily take away her Color Belt and make the Color Castle my own home."

"Gee, Murky, it sounds great. But what about the Color Kids?"

"If you'd let me finish bean bozo, you'd know. I can easily capture those Color Kids once Rainbow is out of commission. She won't be able to stop me if she's taken over by the gloom shadow, now will she?"

"Okay, Murky…if you say so," responded Lurky with a shrug of his arms.

"Tonight will be the beginning of the end for Rainbow and her colorful little world!" shouted Murky gleefully. He went back to his book, double-checking his handiwork. He added the gloom shadow to one bottle and corked it, before adding the invisibility concoction to another bottle, corking that one as well. He glanced out the window that faced Rainbow Land. "I can't wait to see this world decked in its true colors. Then it shall be cheerful indeed!"

_~~~~ That Evening ~~~~_

Rainbow covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. It had been a long day for her, Twink, and Starlite. Springtime was perhaps one of the busiest seasons, as the Earth was just coming to life again after the dreary winter season. It was indeed a rebirth of colors and life, bringing the Earth people out of their depressive wintry moods and causing them to look forward to the new life sprouting around them. Earth depended on the color to be spread about the planet, even if the inhabitants had no idea where that color truly came from.

"Look at the sky, Rainbow," chirped Twink.

"I know…Moonglow has been pretty busy these past few weeks. I'm quite certain spring is one of her favorite seasons to decorate the sky."

Rainbow yawned again and turned away from the window. "I think I'll get to bed early tonight. I need to be ready for tomorrow."

"Okay, Rainbow. I'm going outside for a bit."

Rainbow smiled at her sprite. "Goodnight, Twink," she called as she pulled back the covers on her bed and crawled in. Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite joined her at the end of the bed, each curling into balls of fluff. Rainbow yawned, her eyes growing heavier and heavier with sleep. Slowly, she drifted off into her colorful dream world, eager to begin her work all over again tomorrow.

As night passed on, all of Rainbow Land slept, dreaming of colors and happiness. The sprites were tucked away in their houses, while the Color Kids, Rainbow, Puppy Brite, Kitty Brite, and Twink slept in the Color Castle. Moonglow worked on making sure the night sky shone brightly across the land and on Earth. No one suspected what was about to befall each and every one of them, twisting the future that they knew and expected.

Meanwhile, in the Pits, Murky worked on putting the finishing touches on his latest plan. He wrapped each bottle in cloth, not wanting to risk them breaking on the ride to Rainbow Land. He didn't want his plan to be foiled before it'd even begun to unfold. "Luuuurky!" he called. "Get the Grunge Buggy ready. It's time to head to Rainbow Land."

Lurky peeked around the corner. "Can I ride Rainbow's horsey while we're there? You always promise!"

Murky grinned to himself. "Once I've taken over Rainbow Land for good, you can ride the horsey all you want."

Lurky clapped. "Oh goody, Murky. I can't wait!"

"Now go get the Grunge Buggy so we can get moving! Or there won't be any horseys for you to ride!"

Lurky saluted Murky. "Yes, sir, Murky!" He scampered off clumsily. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy…" could be heard echoing off the walls.

Murky gathered his bottles together and headed off down the stairs to meet Lurky and the Grunge Buggy. His head was filled visions of a black, grey, and white Rainbow Land, with him as the ruler over all the sprites and Color Kids. He could imagine himself watching over the sprites as they mined deep within the Color Cave, mining color crystals that he could infuse with his own gloomy creations to create a dismally lovely Earth and Rainbow Land. He felt light on his feet as he walked down the stairs, his dreams carrying him forward.

The Grunge Buggy rumbled and sputtered to life as Murky entered the cavern. "All set to go!" called out Lurky.

Murky gently placed the wrapped bottles inside the sidecar trashcan of the buggy and climbed in. "Let's go then. By now, they should all be sleeping deeply. They have no idea that I'm heading to destroy their world!"

"And take their horseys to ride!" added Lurky gleefully.

Murky smacked his forehead. "Just drive, bumble breath," he grumbled.

Lurky sped off in the Grunge Buggy, bouncing and rolling over the rocky terrain as they headed toward Rainbow Land. The closer they got, the larger Murky's smile became. The brilliant Color Castle and all that lay within it would soon be his for the taking. "Drive slowly and carefully once we cross into Rainbow Land, Lurky. We don't want those brats to know we're here."

"Gotcha, Murky," nodded Lurky as he continued driving, slowing as he came closer to the border of Rainbow Land.

Murky kept a close eye on the landscape as the Grunge Buggy drew closer and closer to the Color Castle. He kept an eye out for Moonglow, remembering her annoying ability to become invisible whenever she desired during her nighttime work. The memory almost made him sick to his stomach. Slowly, they crept by the sprite homes that were darkened and down the path straight to the castle. "Park behind that bush," instructed Murky in a hushed whisper, pointing out the desired location.

"You got it!" replied Lurky, not bothering to lower his voice as Murky had done.

"And keep it quiet, turkey gizzard! If Rainbow and the others know we're here, then the plan won't work, and you won't get your precious horseys!"

"Gee, sorry Murky," answered Lurky, now whispering.

With the Grunge Buggy hidden, Murky gathered his concoctions and jumped out. "Come on. You keep an eye out for anyone who might stop us."

The duo tiptoed toward the castle, Murky careful to make sure his bottles were secure in his arms. Lurky followed behind him, constantly scanning the immediate area in front of them, a serious expression on his face. They crept up to the castle, and cautiously peeked inside the front door. Noting that no one seemed to stir from within, they continued to the room they knew was Rainbow's. Murky peeked in the doorway and noted that both Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite were inside on Rainbow's bed.

Murky put a finger to his lips to keep Lurky quiet. "We have to get rid of those two," he whispered. "Keep quiet." Murky pulled a toy ball from his pocket and attached it to a string. "I'll use this toy to get those two out." He tossed the toy into the room and handed the string to Lurky. "Pull it slowly and once they're out of the room, keep them away! Get back to the Grunge Buggy in five minutes, got it?"

Lurky nodded silently and began jiggling the string. The ball began to move and both Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite woke at the sound. Their eyes focused on the new toy as it wiggled about on the floor. It began moving toward the door and they crept off the bed, sneaking off after it. Murky hid deep within the shadows as he watched the two animals take off down the hallway after it. Certain they wouldn't return, he dashed into the room and to Rainbow's bedside.

Setting his bottles down, he first uncorked the invisibility potion, then the gloom shadow one. He poured the invisibility into the gloom shadow bottle, corking it and beginning to shake it up. As he shook it, the gloom shadow seemed to disappear right before his eyes. Grinning widely, he uncorked the now invisible gloom shadow and poured the entire thing over Rainbow's visible body above the blankets. As long as the shadow hit some part of a living being, it would attach itself. Murky put the bottle away, certain it was completely empty. He then watched Rainbow's face, soon seeing a darkened shadow cross her face before disappearing. He rubbed his hands together in glee. His plan was in place; now all he had to do was wait patiently for it to take full effect.

Murky crept backwards out of the room, his now empty bottles in hand. Before he turned to head back out into the dark night, he took one last glance at Rainbow, who looked no different than she had before he had arrived…that anyone could actually _see_ that was. He took off at a gentle pace, heading back to the bush and to the Grunge Buggy. As he arrived, he saw Lurky already waiting for him.

"Did you get rid of those animals?" asked Murky.

"Course. I went round and round with the toy and we played, Murky. I dropped it somewhere in the castle though and came back, just like you told me to."

"I'm guessing they didn't see you, since no one found me. Head back to the Pits, Lurky. We're going to play the waiting game."

"Oh boy! I love games, Murky. How do you play?"

"You wait around for a few days and watch what happens to the Rainbow brat, got it?"

"Gee, Murky, that sounds stupid."

"Don't insult my genius, bozo brain! Get back to the Pits before someone finds us!" instructed Murky. Lurky sped off toward the Pits. Murky half-heartedly kept an eye out for anyone who might see them, but he really didn't care at this point. It didn't matter if anyone saw them. It would only appear they were wandering around Rainbow Land, up to no good, but there would be no evidence this time! It was perfect. Even if they find that stupid ball and string, it won't matter. They won't see what I've done. I could have dropped that anywhere in Rainbow Land and those pesky animals toyed with it all the way back to the Castle. After all, that's their "nature". He giggled quietly to himself.

Sunlight filtered across Rainbow Land, the sky bedecked in oranges, yellows, and reds as the sun rose over the mountains. The sprites rose from slumber and got ready to work in the Color Caves. The Color Kids prepared to set forth watching the creation of star sprinkles and keeping an eye on the Color Console. The sunbeams that danced across Rainbow's bed woke Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite, who yawned before pounced on Rainbow's sleeping form. Rainbow began to stir and rolled over, groaning to herself. She slowly opened her eyes to find Puppy and Kitty Brite atop her and yawned. She sat up and stretched before throwing her legs over the edge of the bed. "Oh my… I feel so tired still…even after going to bed early last night…" She yawned again before reluctantly setting her feet on the floor.

Puppy and Kitty Brite watched Rainbow exit the room and wondered at Rainbow's strange statement. That wasn't usually like her at all. She usually bounced from bed, acknowledging each of them and the brand new day before setting off to do her job. They shrugged and walked out after her, easily catching up to her slow steps as they listened to her yawn once again.

**Let me know what you think. Reviews are always a welcome source of feedback for me to continue to critique and change my work.**


	2. A Stormy Encounter

**First off, I would like to say thanks to Robert Teague for the review that he left :) I love a good, informative review. I had so much fun with this chapter. I had originally intended to end it further ahead in my story notes than it actually did, but I had so much fun with the events in the chapter that I decided to really flush them out and add more details. As always, feedback is appreciated, but I'm one of those people who writes for the passion, rather than the reviews that a story could receive. Also, this story is written for someone very dear to my heart, as she was the entire reason I started to watch Rainbow Brite and some of the elements that will appear in this story will have been chosen because of her. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2 A Stormy Encounter**

Days slowly passed, and to Rainbow, it seemed like an eternity. Every day seemed to pass by more slowly. To get out of bed became a huge task in itself. She couldn't figure it out, didn't have the energy to even try to figure it out. The cheer and joy that usually enveloped her personality was beginning to fade, and the effects were being felt by all the inhabitants of Rainbow Land.

Twink crept softly into Rainbow's room, wondering why she wasn't up and about yet. It was very unusual for her to sleep very long past sunrise. He knew that as soon as the sun had finished rising, she often jumped from bed to get a head start on the day. He was even quite certain that Murky Dismal was up and about by now, and that Rainbow was the only being asleep in Rainbow Land. He climbed up onto Rainbow's bed and began to gently shake her. "Rainbow! Rainbow! Wake up! There's so much to do today!" he chirped happily.

Rainbow's sleeping form began to stir beneath the covers, and she groaned in annoyance, covering her head with her pillow. Twink tilted his head to study her. "Come on, this isn't time to be silly, Rainbow!" he tried again as he shook her. He yelped and jumped out of the way as she rolled over and slowly opened her eyes.

"Uhh…Mmm… Twink?" she asked, her vision blurry. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear away the sleep within. Slowly she sat up, knocking Twink off of her and onto the floor.

"Oof! Hey, careful, Rainbow!" he called as he stood and rubbed his head.

Distractedly, Rainbow looked over the edge of the bed at her dedicated friend. "What's wrong, Twink?" she asked drowsily.

"You've been asleep all morning! We've got to get a move on today! Everyone's up and about but you!" explained Twink as he danced about wildly. "There's so much to be done!"

Rainbow rubbed her eyes and regarded the excited sprite with a look of very little surprise. "It'll keep for awhile yet, Twink. We don't need to worry about it just yet."

Twink put his hands on his hips. "That's not like you, Rainbow! Come on, come on, come on!" He reached out for Rainbow's hand, but she pulled away. Twink backed away as she threw back the covers and swung her legs onto the floor.

"Let's get started then… I suppose it won't get done any other way, will it?" asked Rainbow as she smoothed her dress over.

Twink looked confused. "Well of course not, Rainbow. It's your job to spread the color on Earth."

Rainbow waved his comment off and trudged off toward the door, to the outside where she knew that Starlite would be waiting for her, as he did every, single day. Twink ran to catch up with her. "Do you have the star sprinkles, Twink?" asked Rainbow tiredly.

"Of course!" Twink rummaged around in his pouch and pulled out a handful of the colorful stars, placing them in Rainbow's outstretched hand. The hand automatically moved to her belt, causing a quick flash of white light as the sprinkles were inserted.

"Good morning, Rainbow!" called Starlite. "You know, the most magnificent horse in the universe gets restless just standing around waiting for those who sleep late."

"You know, Starlite, that ego of yours is quite annoying today," remarked Rainbow, as she boosted herself up onto his back.

"Well…I… uhh…" sputtered Starlite, unsure of what to say to that remark. Rainbow had never before said anything like that to him, or to anyone else.

Lifting Twink up to a spot behind her, she pressed her finger to her belt, a rainbow of bright light emitting forth and traveling across the expanse of the sky, seeming to go on forever. Starlite turned to look at Twink and Twink shrugged. He had no idea what to say to Starlite about Rainbow, or what could even be said. Starlite took a running start upon the rainbow pathway across the sky and just as quickly the rainbow disappeared behind the trio.

Emerging from behind the doorway of the Color Castle came Stormy, a strange look on her face. She'd heard the exchange between Rainbow and Starlite. "That's odd. That's not the Rainbow I know. Something's not right here…" She leaned against the frame, puzzling over the strange scene she'd witnessed.

"What's not right?" asked Tickled Pink, coming up behind her.

Stormy turned to face her. "Rainbow. Something's wrong with Rainbow. Her usual self is gone. She pretty much just told off Starlite for his ego, and while that horse needs his bubble busted every so often, Rainbow's never done that to him."

Tickled Pink nodded. "I was walking past her room this morning when Twink was trying to wake her up then. She wasn't exactly herself then either."

"I wonder what's up with her?"

"Could Murky be at it again, you think?" asked Tickled Pink, worried.

"Murky's not that smart. You always know his plans when you see them."

"Don't forget that robot, Stormy. No one figured that one out right off."

Stormy folded her arms across her chest. "I did."

Tickled Pink smiled, not wanting to argue with Stormy. "Of course…but it can't be Murky, can it?" she asked, worry tingeing her voice.

"Doesn't matter if it is or not. We always stop him or he stops himself." Stormy shrugged.

"What about Rainbow?"

"We'll keep an eye on her, until we can figure something else out."

"Should we tell the others?" questioned Tickled Pink.

"I'm pretty sure they'll see for themselves, but it's up to you. We'll just keep an eye out for Murky and see what happens."

In the Pits, Murky was humming a joyously dreadful tune to himself while browsing through the same tome he'd gotten his invisibility potion from. "This book will be my greatest ally in stopping Rainbow Brite for good. I'm sure there's plenty of new concoctions just waiting to be found…"

"Murky! Rainbow just left on a pretty rainbow!"

Murky glanced up. "Why, things are going better than expected. It's near to mid-day and she's only now leaving Rainbow Land. We might go cause some trouble to throw them off our trail for now."

"What do you wanna do, Murky?" asked Lurky, standing over his shoulder.

"We need some stupidly simple plan that will throw them off! Then they'll think I'm not capable of doing what's happening to Rainbow… yes that's exactly what we should do!"

"Let's go see the colors, Murky!"

"Yes, we'll go steal some color crystals, Lurky! Get the Grunge Buggy ready. Time to head to Rainbow Land to throw them off our trail!"

Lurky dashed to the cavern where they kept the Grunge Buggy and jumped inside, closely followed by Murky who carried a small gloom gun with him. "Drive, tar butt! We must hurry, before Rainbow returns…not that she'll do anything to stop us quickly!" Murky's cackling laughter could be heard echoing off the walls of the Pits as they drove toward Rainbow Land.

Murky directed Lurky to drive to the side of the Color Castle, where the color crystals were brought to be made into star sprinkles. They hid in the bushes and waited for the next mine cart to arrive. It didn't take long until a cart full of blue color crystals ridden by a yellow sprite stopped in front of the console. It took the sprite a few moments to notice the Grunge Buggy sitting in plain view, but it yelped and chattered in fear, calling out for sprites and the Color Kids.

"Uh… why are we not hiding, Murky?" asked Lurky, scratching the top of his furry head.

"Because we need them to think I'm so foolishly stupid to try something." He directed his attention to the sprite, pointing the barrel of the gloom gun at him. His finger rested on the trigger. "Reach for the rainbow, sprite. I want those crystals you've got."

The sprite shivered and shook, chattering wildly, while Murky grinned. He pulled the trigger and the gun emitted a grayish-black cloud that engulfed the sprite and the crystals. He heard the running of footsteps and turned to face the new guests.

"Murky Dismal, you leave that sprite and those crystals alone," cried Red Butler, stepping forward from the group of Color Kids.

"What do you plan to do about it? Call your precious Rainbow Brite?" asked Murky.

"And what if we do?" asked Patty O'Green.

"Oh nothing. I just want these color crystals, that's all."

"What pretty colors we can make!" exclaimed Lurky.

"We really should call Rainbow back," spoke up Shy Violet.

"No," cried Stormy firmly as she stepped forward. "There's no need."

"Don't be so rash, Stormy," called Buddy Blue as he placed a hand on her arm.

Stormy jerked her arm away from him. "I'm not. I know exactly what I'm doing." Stormy stomped her foot on the ground, which caused nearby clouds to move closer, slowly changing from a brilliant white to a dirty, dark grey. The sprites that had gathered back away, hiding in fear behind Lala Orange and Canary Yellow. They knew exactly what Stormy was capable of.

"Listen to Buddy, Stormy. He's right," added Indigo in a soft voice. "Rainbow can take care of this."

"Rainbow's not up to the task," retorted Stormy. She kept one eye on the brewing storm, her lips curling into a smile as she heard the low rumble of thunder.

"Oh you really should listen to your friends, Stormy," taunted Murky. "They would know best, you know."

Stormy glared at him and the first lightning bolt flashed in the darkened sky. Murky held his ground, ever so slowly reaching a hand out to grab some color crystals. Stormy pointed her finger at him. "Don't you dare touch that, Murky Dismal."

"Or what?" he asked teasingly, his fingers snaking around a medium sized crystal.

Stormy stamped her foot, the rumbling thunder echoing her anger. The Color Kids could only watch as she refused to listen to them. She had good reason for doing this, but she had no time to explain it to them, not when Murky was being his usual pesky self. She'd take care of that later, after the accusations that would surely accompany the scolding they'd give her.

Taking one last chance to stop Stormy and allow them to alert Rainbow, Shy Violet spoke up once more. "Stormy, please don't do these. You know what we're supposed to do…"

Murky leaned closer to Lurky to whisper. "Time to make our escape while they're caught up in conversation. Tip-toe toward the Buggy and don't make a sound!"

Stormy was about to give an angry retort that would fill the sky with lightning, but another voice quickly spoke. "Let her be. She knows exactly what she's doing. There's a good reason for it," whispered Tickled Pink in a soft voice.

"What?!" exclaimed Lala Orange and Canary Yellow in surprise.

Tickled Pink nodded. "She'll tell you all, but let her take care of Murky now, please."

Pleased that Tickled Pink had spoken up in her defense, Stormy turned back to Murky, only to find him hopping into the Grunge Buggy with Lurky at that very moment, blue color crystal in hand. "Oh, you aren't getting off that easily!" she yelled. "Skydancer! Let's move!"

The midnight blue horse leapt from behind the Color Kids, and Stormy climbed aboard. "After those two!" she cried, the storm following the pair as they chased after Lurky and Murky. The Grunge Buggy sputtered and coughed as it ran around the length of the Color Castle before crossing the bridge to the mainland. The Color Kids and sprites turned to watch as Stormy followed in close pursuit, knowing that the Grunge Buggy was nowhere near as fast as Skydancer.

The chase soon disappeared into the distanced and the only sounds that could be heard were the fading rumblings of the sudden thunderstorm that Stormy had conjured over the Color Castle. The Kids turned to face Tickled Pink.

"What's this about Stormy and letting her do that?" asked Red Butler, arms crossed over his chest.

"She knows we always contact Rainbow when there's trouble," added Patty O'Green.

"How can you be sure she wasn't being hard-headed?" quipped Buddy Blue.

"Because she knows something's up with Rainbow, and I've noticed it to. I don't think calling her would have helped today."

"What do you mean?" asked Lala Orange.

Tickled Pink looked around at her friends, realizing they had not seen or observed anything like she and Stormy had. "Let's go into the Color Castle, and I'll explain what I've seen, and what Stormy's seen."

Stormy's small hands expertly gripped Skydancer's mane as she sat up straight on his back. She didn't mind the rain falling on her, or the wind blow against her backside. Her eyes were currently trained on Lurky and Murky, and she manipulated the storm's lightning to strike dangerously close to the Grunge Buggy.

Murky focused nervously on the storm around him. He knew exactly what this brat was capable of, but had never seen her powers in full swing, until now. "Watch the road mango bat!" he yelled as Lurky swerved around yet another fallen tree branch.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" yelled Lurky back over the roar of the storm. He pressed the gas as far as it would go and shifted the gears to increase their speed. He hated this storm overhead and would have preferred to have been deep in the Pits instead. He winced as another loud rumbling of thunder roared overhead.

Hands shielding his eyes, Murky kept an eye out for the entrance to the Pits, and spied it less than a mile away. "Hurry! We're almost there!" he yelled, pointing straight ahead on the road. He turned to see where the brat and her horse was and saw that she was barely the length of the Buggy away from them. _She's about as bad as the Rainbow brat_ he thought to himself.

Stormy continued to follow Murky and Lurky, finding the chase rather boring, as the Grunge Buggy was too slow to make things fun or interesting. Instead, she worked on driving them toward the border that separated the Pits from the rest of Rainbow Land, and scaring them every so often. She did enjoy the frightened jumps the two of them made when the thunder and lightning suddenly crashed around their heads. She took extreme pleasure in their terror and gleefully continued to randomly scare them.

Before she knew it, they had crossed into the border of the Pits, and she watched as they drove up the winding pathway toward Murky's lair. She held Skydancer at ease, waiting to see if Murky would return to attack her. When she was certain he wasn't coming back out, she turned to Skydancer. "Let's get back to the Color Castle, pronto. I don't wanna deal with the accusations of the other Kids, but maybe Tickled Pink can help me out." The pair galloped back the way they had come, and as Stormy looking up to the slowly clearing sky, she noticed the tips of a rainbow path heading back toward the Color Castle.

**Stormy is such a fun character to write... I do enjoy her personality. Feedback is appreciated, especially if anyone catches mistakes or areas that need to be clarified a bit better. Let me know and I'll work to fix them. Also, if anyone has any good information on the geography of Rainbowland, it'd be greatly appreciated. I can't seem to really find a good source from my research and I need to get more ideas on the area surrounding the Color Castle and the Pits. Thanks in advance if anyone can!**


	3. Colorful Exchanges

**And so it's time for another chapter! I've actually had this one done for a few days, and chapter 4 was just finished last night. I wanted to create a backlog of chapters for here though. Currently, chapter 4 is only available in 2 select locations, but will be up here next week. By that time, chapter 5 should be completed. I'm really working to finish this story because I've noticed the trend on here is stories go unfinished. I don't want that to be the case with my story so I'm working hard on it when I can. Right now, it's pretty often, but we'll see what the future holds. Any and all feedback is welcomed from you; I'd love to know what you think of the story so far. Enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 3 - Colorful Exchanges  
**

The Color Kids were shocked as Tickled Pink related the observations that both see and Stormy had made about Rainbow and her actions as of lately. "…something's going on, that's for sure," she said, finishing off her tale.

"She did seem off the other day, but I just figured it was because we're so busy. It's Spring, and helping with the process of the rebirth of life on Earth can be tiring," answered Shy Violet.

"Is this one of Murky's plans?" asked Red Butler. "He's never been smart enough for much."

"And what can we do to help her?" asked Indigo.

Tickled Pink had no idea how to answer her friends' questions, and told them so. "I don't know. If it's Murky's, it's really good. If not… there's someone we don't know about in Rainbow Land."

"What do we do now?" asked Buddy Blue.

"I say we observe her every day activities and personality," answered Shy Violet. "Like an experiment of sorts. If it's an unknown foe, we need to see what we're up against."

"I agree," added Lala Orange. "If she's changed, she wouldn't like knowing we were watching her."

"What about Moonglo? She doesn't know any of this," spoke up Canary Yellow.

Tickled Pink thought for a second. Canary was right. Moonglo most likely hadn't seen what she and Stormy had, and she hadn't been present for the battle. She was off somewhere in Rainbow Land resting to restore her energy. It occurred every so often that she needed to sleep deeply during the day to recharge, and today just happened to be the deep sleep day. Nothing would have woken her from that slumber until her internal clock alerted her to sunset. She was about to speak when she saw a ribbon of rainbow fly past the room.

"Moonglo will either find out on her own, or I'll tell her. Rainbow's back and so we've got to keep quiet. Act like nothing's out of the ordinary and don't speak of this. She can't know…." Tickled Pink suddenly went silent as she saw the rainbow land outside the castle. She followed the Color Kids as they ran outside of the Color Castle to meet their beloved Rainbow. They were met with Rainbow's stern voice.

"Why is it every time I return, each of you come running? Does it _look_ like I need help?" she asked from atop Starlite, who was unusually quiet. Tickled Pink noticed Twink was shaking nervously behind her. Rainbow slid off Starlite, but suddenly lost her balance, landing on her knees. Gone were the stern words and a tired voice spoke to them. "Leave me be… I need sleep… do…whatever."

Everyone turned to watch as Rainbow trudged toward the castle, slumped over and dragging her feet. Tickled Pink put a finger to her lips, knowing that someone would want to discuss what they had all just witnessed. She was saved the trouble of saying anything when a pounding of hoofbeats were heard. Turning toward the bridge, Tickled Pink was glad to see Stormy had returned home. She couldn't read the look on Stormy's face or what she felt inside. She knew Stormy dreaded the confrontation between herself and the Color Kids for what'd she'd done with Murky and Lurky. She caught Stormy's eye, and smiled.

Stormy slid off Skydancer's back and stood beside him. "Well, both of them are back in the Pits. Who knows how long they'll stay there though."

"We're sorry about earlier, Stormy," apologized Indigo. "We had no idea."

"Yeah," agreed all the Color Kids, nodding and smiling at her.

"Well, at least I don't have to defend myself. That's a relief. I saw Rainbow had returned. Good or bad?"

Tickled Pink put a finger to her lips. "Not good, but best to not talk about it."

Stormy nodded. "Got it. I'm off okay?" She climbed aboard Skydancer again and the two took off across the bridge and into a patch of trees. Starlite took off after them, without saying a word.

Indigo knelt down next to Twink and rubbed his fur. "It's all right Twink. We'll figure it out. Just keep an eye on her, all right?"

Twink looked up at his friends. "Rainbow's so mean to everyone. What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know, Twink," said Buddy Blue.

"When we do, we'll solve the problem right away," added Shy Violet.

Twink nodded. "All right. I just hope she's okay."

"Go check on the sprites in the Color Cave, Twink. Keeping busy will do us all some good," replied Lala Orange.

"Right," agreed Red Butler. "We should get back to work to work too. Color must be spread and we can't slack off." Each of the Color Kids nodded in agreement with him and they headed back toward the Castle.

Murky finished drying off and strutted to a nearby chair, taking a seat. "That should do it, Lurky. They have no idea what just occurred, but it was such a stupid idea that they cannot tie my brilliant plan to my idiotic one."

"But… Murky…what if they did?" asked Lurky.

Murky glared at him from his spot. "They have nothing to pin to us, banana breath. Even if they suspect that something's up with Rainbow, they can't _see_ it and there's no evidence either. We're scot-free for now."

"So what do we do next, Murky?"

"We wait until she's a bit weaker and then we capture those Color Brats. Without her to help, they won't stand a chance!" He laughed to himself and closed his eyes, dreaming of the day when he'd finally have Rainbow Land under his rule. "Yes, I can see it now… a colorless land, the Pits expanding across the land. Oh think of it, Lurky! The sprites under my control, doing as I bid them!"

"Murky?"

"Can I control the horseys?"

"What? Oh you can have one of them!"

"Goody!" cried Lurky. He stood there in thought for a moment before speaking again. "Hey Murky?"

"What?" asked Murky, annoyed at being interrupted yet again.

"Wanna play ping pong?"

The Color Kids did their best to keep busy and continue processing the color crystals as they would on any other day. They were tense, wondering if Rainbow would show up and what she would do if she did. However, the afternoon passed without incident and they all breathed easy as nighttime settled across Rainbow Land. The sun drifted below the horizon and the sky darkened, but not for long. Soon, a smattering of stars began to appear across the sky, bright and colorful and cheery. The moon took the place of the sun and shined its light upon the Color Castle. Shooting stars and comets decorated the sky, as the inhabitants of the land settled in for a relaxing evening and a dream-filled sleep. Sprites and Color Kids alike watched the evening sky, enjoying the peaceful scenery before them.

However, one usual observer wasn't at her window this night, or anywhere to be seen. Moonglo had kept an eye out for her all evening, but she had never appeared. She knew this wasn't like Rainbow because she never missed a chance to look at the night sky, unless she had official business to attend to elsewhere. Usually when that happened, everyone knew about it, but tonight…she had no idea. She decided to find out why, and landed gently on the ground before the entrance to the Color Castle. She walked inside, and made her way to the doorframe of Rainbow's room. Out of curiosity, she peeked inside and found Rainbow sitting cross-legged on her bed, facing away from the door. "Rainbow?" she called softly to announce her presence. She received no reply.

Frowning, she walked across the room, and heard Rainbow speaking to herself in soft tones. She couldn't make out what she was saying. Upon reaching the bed, she tapped Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow?"

In quick defense, Rainbow's arm shot out to push away whoever was touching her. Moonglo backed away quickly, shocked. When Rainbow turned to face her, she could see something wasn't right. Dark circles lay lightly under her eyes, which were not the brilliant blue they usually were. "What is it?" she asked, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

"I… I just came to see why you weren't looking at the night sky as you normally do," spoke Moonglo nervously. "I was worried about you."

Rainbow pointed at her. "There's no need to worry about me. I'm quite fine, as you might see. Besides, is there some rule I have to watch the night sky _every_ night?"

"Well…no…but…"

"Then why does it matter? It's all the same junk up there – stars, moon, and whatever else you find."

Moonglo was taken aback, and could feel tears forming, but she didn't want Rainbow to see her cry. "It's never quite the same," she whispered.

"Well, unless the stars do something strange, it's all the same junk. Junk that fills a sky that could just as well be dark and empty."

Moonglo's hand flew to her mouth. "Rainbow, the night isn't supposed to be dark. It's supposed to be bright and beautiful for all to see."

"Hmph. You're just saying that because the night sky is your job."

"Yes, a job I love. Just like you love your job spreading color here and on Earth," replied Moongo.

"Earth doesn't need my colors. No one appreciates the color in the world anymore, and certainly not those on Earth. They wallow in their depression, greed, and ego. Color? They don't need me."

"That's not true!" Moonglo stamped her foot in sudden anger. "The color chases away the darkens, brightens and beautifies the Earth, and puts a smile on faces. The Earth needs you, Rainbow, to remind them of the happiness they carry inside."

Rainbow stood and jumped off the bed, quickly turned to face Moonglo accusingly. "All you're doing is making excuses for them and everyone else. No one needs color! Not you! Not them!"

"If no one needed color," began Moonglo softly, "then no one would need you and you wouldn't exist, nor would the Color Kids…but you do exist, and they do too…"

"Well, then how about I fix that problem?" asked Rainbow, glaring at her. She wasn't enjoying being confronted, nor did she enjoy the excuses she was hearing.

"Wha-What are you talking about?" asked Moonglo.

Rainbow's fingers went behind her back, deftly unbuckling her Color Belt. "No one needs color, so no one needs me!" She pulled the belt away from her waist, and held it out. "So I don't need this Color Belt anymore."

Nervously, Moonglo dared to reply, not wanting to voice the fear she saw coming true before her very eyes. "Are you saying…."

"That Rainbow Brite is no more!" With that remark, Rainbow tossed the Color Belt across the room, watching as it smacked against the doorway to her room and clattered to the floor. Rainbow made no move to retrieve it. She merely turned and climbed back onto the bed, settling back into a cross-legged position. "Now leave me alone."

Moonglo stood stark still, unsure of what to do. She couldn't believe that she had seen Rainbow denounce the Color Belt and deny that she was in charge of bringing color to the world. She took one step forward. "Rainbow?"

"I told you! That's no longer my name. Now leave." Rainbow did not turn to look at her.

Tears began to fall as Moonglo ran out of Rainbow's room, upset at what she had just witnessed. She headed for the main castle door, where Nite Sprite had come to wait on her. Stormy was just crossing the bridge to the Color Castle and was about to call out to her to get her attention. Before she could, Moonglo disappeared into the night sky, and he followed her, knowing that she was upset and something was wrong. Stormy was quite certain that Moonglo hadn't even seen her.

Stormy frowned; she'd glimpsed Moonglo's teary face before she'd disappeared and knew that Moonglo had found out about Rainbow and the changes that had suddenly appeared. _The others may tiptoe around her, but I'm not going to put up with this. I'm going to see just what's going on_ she thought to herself as she marched toward the entrance to the Color Castle and to Rainbow's room. It was one thing to tell off Starlite; his ego needed to be brought down a notch. It was an entirely different story to do the same thing to Moonglo and upset her.

Her footsteps led her to the door of Rainbow's room. Glimpsing inside, she saw Rainbow sitting on the bed, bathed in moonlight, and facing away from the door. She watched Rainbow for a few moments. She didn't want to cause more trouble than was necessary; she didn't argue as much anymore after the Winter season ended. However, that didn't mean that her temper was gone for good. She reasoned that she had to confront Rainbow in the manner Rainbow had talked to their friends because being as kind as Moonglo had didn't work well at all. It probably wasn't the best way, but she wasn't letting Rainbow get away with treating people that way.

Meanwhile, as if to prove Rainbow wrong about the night sky, Moonglo began adding more color. She made the moon more golden, multitudes of stars began to appear in red and blues, and shooting stars raced across the sky. For all her effort, Rainbow never once turned toward a window to glimpse at the night sky, even after the moon glow bathed her room in moonlight. She stayed in the same position, mumbling to herself. The Color Belt lay discarded, its color fading slightly because of Rainbow's denouncement.

**And so we have Rainbow's denouncing of the Color Belt. What occurs from here on out is yet to be seen, but I can guarantee you'll enjoy it. Much of the research I do for this story is based on what occurs in the show. I have access to a few sites that provide me with information I desire as well. If I can't find research to back up something I create, then I make my best judgment call on whether or not it would fit within the realm of Rainbow Brite. If you have any questions, just ask me and I'll answer as best I can. As always, if you catch mistakes, let me know. Until next chapter!**


	4. Turn of Events

**So last night I finally finished chapter 6, therefore allowing me to upload chapter 4 here. It took me longer than usual, as I've begun subbing and so some evenings I just crash. Don't worry though. I'm still working full steam and chapter 7 is currently being written. As always, feedback is appreciated, especially if a mistake is caught. Enjoy the chapter. The next one should be up within a week's time, if all goes well.**

**Chapter 4 Turn of Events**

Gathering her wits about her, Stormy stepped forward into Rainbow's room, but stopped when she felt something beneath her feet. Glancing down, she saw the Color Belt, faded in color, beneath her boot. She reached down and picked it up gently, knowing deep down what Rainbow must have done. No longer hesitating, she marched straight to Rainbow's bed. "What's the meaning of this?" she asked angrily, holding out the Color Belt. "And why was Moonglo crying when I saw her?"

Rainbow didn't turn to look at Stormy. "Isn't it obvious? I am no longer Rainbow Brite; I don't need the Color Belt anymore."

"No longer Rainbow Brite? What are you talking about?" Stormy felt sick to her stomach. What exactly had Rainbow done?

"Color isn't needed, so I'm not needed. I don't need the Belt." Rainbow spoke softly, never turning to face Stormy, never changing her tone of voice.

Frustrated, Stormy stamped her foot. "That's not an answer! Look at me, Rainbow! What's wrong with you?" She was taken aback when Rainbow suddenly turned to face her.

"What's it matter to you? I'm not the one to bring color to the world anymore. Deal with it."

Stormy's face moved closer to Rainbow's. "That's your job, Rainbow. Each of us has a job to do," she stated, jabbing a finger in Rainbow's chest.

Rainbow glared back at her, her forehead now pressed against Stormy's. "Not anymore." She smacked away Stormy's finger angrily.

Stormy groaned in frustration. This was going nowhere, and Rainbow was being stubborn. She decided to change the subject. "What did you do to Moonglo earlier?" she asked, pulling away from Rainbow.

"I didn't do a thing." Rainbow slid off the bed, standing before Stormy. "It's her own fault she thinks I should always look at the night sky."

Stormy looked at her, confused. "You always have, Rainbow. You enjoy the night sky."

"No, no I don't. I'd like you to leave me be." Rainbow took a step forward, raising her hand to point Stormy toward the door.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Rainbow. It's gonna take more than that. I'm not like Moonglo," replied Stormy, fists balling at her sides.

"I can do…" Rainbow's sentence faded as she began to sway. She lost her train of thought, knowing she was supposed to be angry at Stormy, but she couldn't remember why. She fought to regain her balance, but it was no use. For an instance, the real Rainbow shown through the gloom shadow. "Help me, Stormy," she called out in a whispered voice before she slumped to the floor, unconscious.

For a moment, Stormy had no idea what just happened. She shook her head and quickly knelt by Rainbow's side. "Rainbow?" she called, shaking her gently. "Rainbow! Wake up!" She shook Rainbow's limp body harder, but it was no use. Rainbow would not waken.

Stormy quickly rose to her feet. She realized that she still held the crumpled Color Belt in her hand. Something was going on, and she couldn't figure out what. She caught the glimpse of the old Rainbow instead of whatever this monster was. Her voice had been kind, gentle, and in need. Stormy took off through the castle, sounding the alarm. "Help! Guys, come quick! Rainbow's down!" She ran through the various hallways, rousing the Color Kids from their rooms and finding Twink among them. She slowed to a stop once everyone had been found, and bent over, hands on knees, trying to catch her breath.

The Color Kids watched her, confused as to what was going on. Twink was the first to notice the Color Belt in her hand. "Why do you have the Color Belt?" he asked.

Stormy looked at Twink and then at the faded Belt. "Rainbow gave up being Rainbow Brite. She tossed the Color Belt aside. I found it on the floor when I went to talk to her. She's done something to upset Moonglo as well." Stormy looked around at the shocked faces before her. "Look, something's not right here and we need to fix it. Rainbow's not herself and she's passed out in her room. Before she did, she cried out for me to help her. Something's inside her."

"How can we be sure it's something inside her?" asked Patty O'Green.

"We can't. Something's wrong though and we need to figure out why."

"What about the Color Belt?" asked Red Butler.

"We keep it safe with her, don't we?" asked Canary Yellow.

"Yeah, we need to keep it away from Murky," added Buddy Blue.

Shy Violet spoke up. "If we have to keep Rainbow safe and the Color Belt away from Murky, how are we going to run the Color Console at the same time? Each of us Color Kids are needed to keep it running smoothly during the day, as well as overseeing production of the star sprinkles."

"But Stormy doesn't need to help us. Moonglo doesn't either. They can take care for Rainbow while we work," suggested Lala Orange.

Tickled Pink nodded in agreement. "Will you, Stormy?" she asked.

"Of course! We just need to ask Moonglo as well."

"And she needs to know what's wrong with Rainbow," added Canary Yellow.

Stormy turned to face Twink. "Twink, take a few of the sprites and see if you can search out Moonglo and Nite Sprite. Tell them to return to the Color Castle, and make sure they know it's an emergency, okay?"

Twink nodded. "Got it. I'll be back before you know it!" He dashed off to the entrance to begin his search.

"Let's hope he can find her soon," voiced Indigo to no one in particular.

"Come on guys. We need to go take care of Rainbow!" called Stormy as she took off at a quick pace for Rainbow's room. The rest of the Color Kids followed after her.

Meanwhile, in a clearing in a forest far from the Color Castle, a soft white light glowed, hovering over the lone wooden chair that sat there. Within moments it had disappeared, and in its place had appeared Moonglo, Nite Sprite standing behind her with his bag of nite sprinkles. He was chattering in a worried tone, looking at the fresh tears that trickled down Moonglo's cheeks. Moonglo sniffled, using her sleeve to wipe at her face. "I don't know, Nite Sprite. Rainbow's not herself." She glanced off into the distance, toward the Color Castle and the beam of moonlight that fell upon it, knowing that it bathed Rainbow's room in its soft light.

Nite Sprite turned to look at the castle as well, and chattered disappointedly. He knew that Moonglo had used more energy than she normally would to decorate the sky and prove a point to Rainbow, but he also knew that she would be drained of energy much sooner than usual. He looked back up at her and patted her knee in sympathy.

"Thanks, Nite Sprite," she whispered, her eyes focusing on the Color Castle. Deep inside, she knew that her efforts had made no difference, and this caused a fresh wave of tears to fall. "Oh Nite Sprite, I don't know what to do," she said in a wavering voice.

Nite Sprite was about to reply, but turned his head when he heard the sound of voices in the distance. He communicated this to Moonglo and waited to see who had followed them. "Nite Sprite! Moonglo!" he heard Twink calling in the distance, along with a chorus of other sprite voices.

Moonglo had heard the call too and rose to her feet. "What are you doing out here?" she asked Twink as he came into view, and hoping that her face didn't deceive that she'd been crying only moments before.

Twink looked up at her. "You've got to return to the Color Castle. There's trouble with Rainbow!" he explained, gesturing with his hands.

"I don't think Rainbow wants to deal with me right now, Twink," Moonglo replied sadly, shaking her head.

"Rainbow's passed out; Stormy and the others are working out a plan, but they need to talk to you! Please come back with us, Moonglo," pleaded Twink, the other sprites nodding in agreement.

"Well… all right," decided Moonglo. "Come on Nite Sprite. Let's go back to the Color Castle."

Nodding, Nite Sprite picked up his heavy bag of nite sprinkles and followed behind Moonglo and the other sprites as they all started down the path that would take them back to the Castle. Moonglo looked up at the sky again, admiring all of the beauty she created. A heavy sigh slipped from her lips. She usually felt contented to look at her handiwork, but not tonight. When the one person you rely on most insults your efforts, you can't really feel all too grand about what you've done in the end.

The sprites and Twink led Moonglo and Nite Sprite directly to Rainbow's room, where the Color Kids were gathered around Rainbow's bed. Tickled Pink looked up when she heard footsteps behind her. She smiled when she saw that Twink had found Moonglo and Nite Sprite. Moonglo moved closer and saw Rainbow lying in her bed. She had been laid under the covers by the others. Moonglo noticed the look on her face was anything but peaceful. She appeared scared, and her faced seemed to twitch every so often. The other Color Kids took Moonglo into their embrace and continued their silent vigil at Rainbow's bedside.

Slowly, as the night wore on, the Color Kids and sprites left one by one, saddened and uncertain about what the morning would bring. The task before them seemed daunting, and none of them were certain if they were up to it. Rainbow never stirred; all attempts to try and wake her had failed. Shy Violet wanted to observe her later on and see if she could find any possible causes for what had happened. During the quiet vigil, Stormy had taken Moonglo aside and explained the situation her and the agreement the Color Kids had all decided on. Moonglo knew that it would be a difficult task; she would have to stay awake more than she was used to in the daytime and still complete her nightly task, but she readily agreed, knowing it was for the good of Rainbow Land.

Morning came to Rainbow Land and its inhabitants were slower to rise than usual. Twink set about making sure the sprites continued to mine the color crystals from the Color Cave and Prism Pond. He scurried about, double-checking everything, encouraging the sprites to work faster, as he made trips back and forth between the Color Cave, Prism Pond, and the Color Castle. Starlite helped him travel back and forth, but didn't speak. He was still hurting from the words that had come tumbling unexpectedly from Rainbow's mouth. Sprites gave him encouraging smiles, but he didn't smile or speak to them. He only focused on the job before him.

The Color Kids worked busily at the Console, helping their sprites to add star sprinkles to the slots around it. They took turns rotating between the Console and the section of the Castle where the color crystals were made into star sprinkles. Stormy had disappeared sometime in the night; no one knew where she had disappeared to, but quite a few had heard the distant roll of thunder before sunrise, and knew Stormy was responsible. However, by the time they'd all woken, there was no hint of a cloud in the sky. Moonglo had stayed in Rainbow's room to watch over her. During the night, Nite Sprite had helped her to put heavy cloth curtains over the windows and doorway, to keep out the natural sunlight that would soon come. This way, she could be awake longer in the daytime without the sunlight affecting her energy. She had pulled a chair up to the side of Rainbow's bed and kept an eye on her.

Her fingers drifted over the top comforter, feeling the soft fabric beneath them. She yawned, exhausted from the events of the previous night, and her body only wanted to rest. Her eyelids started drooping, and she fought the sleep that threatened to take her away to the land of unconsciousness. "Must… stay awake…watch Rainbow…" she murmured to herself, chanting the mantra over and over again. The fabric felt so good beneath her fingers though… it would be so nice to rest her head on it. She jerked away, head flying back. No, thinking that way would only make things worse.

She decided to observe the details of her surroundings, hoping that the attempt to focus would keep her from sleeping. Her eyes traveled up to the Color Belt, which hung from one of the bedposts. It was still faded in color. Moonglo focused on the red, yellow, and green of the rainbow, and the way they connected to the white star. Her eyes drifted from the belt to the fabric that hung from the nearby window. It was a deep shade of maroon, and she strained to see the criss-crossing threads of the material it was composed of. Her head began to droop again, and she tried to fight it, tried to pull her head back up. Struggling, but losing the fight with her exhausted body, her head fell forward and landed gently on the comforter. Her hands lay around her head, and she slept peacefully in the darkened room.

Up in the mountains, Stormy sat beneath a rock ledge, half hidden by the large boulders that surrounded her. She observed Rainbow Land from her perch, knowing exactly what was going on below. To the right, the Pits overlooked Rainbow Land gloomily, as they always did. There was no sign of life to be seen; she wondered if Murky and Lurky were up to another of their stupid ideas. She hadn't figured out why they had so willingly ran off yesterday, but she had to admit that chasing them all the way back to the Pits had been fun. A slight smile crossed her face at the very thought of it.

The early morning thunderstorm she had conjured up had done nothing to soothe her anger. She had considered conjuring up worse, but it would have done no good. Not even the biggest storm could get rid of how she felt inside. She knew disappearing from the Castle wasn't the best idea, but she needed to be alone for awhile and think. The Color Kids were now looking to her, and somehow she had ended up as the unofficial leader of the group. She didn't mind the title because it meant that she wasn't second best to Rainbow anymore; she was now the top person in Rainbow Land, the best. It had come at a cost though, one that made having such a title cause guilt to loom over her conscience. The pressure that was to come, and the possible failure too… Stormy shook her head to clear the thought away. Failure was not an option. She heard the sound of hooves near her and knew that Skydancer was impatient. It was time to head back.

Red Butler was overseeing the production of the star sprinkles, a clipboard in hand. He made notes of the times a new cart of crystals arrived, and the colors that were created. He was working alongside Indigo, who made sure the end process went smoothly. He was so focused on his work that he didn't notice Romeo run up to him. Romeo grabbed at his pants leg, shaking it as he spoke in a worried tone.

"What are you talking about? What did you find?" asked Red Butler, not looking up from his clipboard. Romeo continued to explain his discovery. "What? Oh no!" he exclaimed. "Indigo!"

Indigo looked up from across the room at Red Butler's frantic call. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Romeo says that the red coloring from the tomatoes in the garden is fading. One of the farming sprites pointed it out to him just now."

Indigo gasped. "If red is fading, other colors could be too! Why isn't our rainbow strong enough?"

"I don't know," replied Red Butler, "but we need to find out. And fast. If it's because Rainbow's down, then we're in a lot of trouble." He and Indigo ran from the room and headed for the Color Console, where the rest of the Color Kids were busy. They all turned around when they heard Red Butler and Indigo run into the room.

"There's trouble! Colors are starting to fade in Rainbow Land. The tomatoes in the garden are beginning to lose their bright coloring," he quickly explained.

The Color Kids looked at each other, uncertain of what to do next. Each had figured that doing their job would be enough for now, until they were able to restore Rainbow Brite to her usual self. Now it seemed their job and hers were necessary for the colors in Rainbow Land, and possibly Earth. Without Rainbow doing her duty, where did that leave the Color Kids, and the color across the lands?

**Hmm... an interesting proposition. However, if you happen to know my style, it's only going to get worse before it's going to get better. Let me know what you thought! :)**


	5. All the Colors of the Rainbow

**I had finished chapter 7 of my story over the weekend, but since I had recently uploaded chapter 4 here, I held off on uploading chapter 5. I'm trying to keep a backlog on hand and so far I'm at a two chapter one. However, I just got hired for a long-term sub position today, so instead of teaching on random days, I'll be teaching the rest of the school year in 3rd grade. Therefore, I take on the duties of a regular teacher...so I'm not sure how this will affect my writing. I do want to move my backlog to a three chapter one just in case. That way, I can still continue to provide chapters in a timely manner. I want to finish chapter 8 by Friday and use the weekend to write chapter 9. I do plan to finish this story, and I want to, as I've been given a new idea to try that is Stormy-centric.**

**_Notes for this chapter: The title comes from a Leap Frog baby toy we have at my house. The toy plays a song called All the Colors of the Rainbow: "All the colors of the rainbow/are so beautiful to see/all the colors of the rainbow/are smiling back at me./There's red, orange, yellow/green, blue, purple/red, orange, yellow/green, blue, purple." So it popped into my head when I needed a certain kinda title :) _**

**Enjoy the chapter; feedback is always welcomed!**

**Chapter 5 All the Colors of the Rainbow**

Murky woke to a brilliantly gloomy day in the Pits. He hummed to himself as he moved about his laboratory, checking on various potions. It was hard being patient, but this plan required patience if it were to ever work properly. He moved to the far corner, where his library of various books was kept. His current favorite was kept open upon a podium, bookmarked at the page with the ingredients and directions for executing the gloom shadow. He poured over the page again, looking for a sign that he could act on the next part of his plan. His finger moved deftly back and forth across the page until it stopped near the bottom of the second page. "Optimal fusion with the body occurs by Day 5," he read softly to himself, and then grinned wildly. Today marked the 5th day, which meant it was time for the next logical step in the plan.

Clambering and clomping from the stairwell caused Murky to turn around. Lurky entered the room, dusty and dirty from the task Murky had given him the previous night. "All done, Murky. It looks just like the picture you drew," he called as he pulled out a drawing, looking as though a child had thrown together the picture.

"It'd better or it'll be your head. That pit has to be strong enough to keep those Color Kids out of the picture." Murky paced back and forth across the stone floor. "And it's deep enough in the Pits that no one will find them either."

"What if they climb out, Murky?" asked Lurky, a rare good question.

Murky looked up at Lurky in surprise. "Why… hmm… they did get out before…" Murky ran off to the section of his laboratory where he stored various parts for his inventions. He looked the pile over, trying to figure out how to incorporate the parts into his design. Spotting some metal rods, he got an idea. "We'll make it into a prison pit they can't get out of!" he exclaimed with glee.

"Prison pit?" asked Lurky, scratching his head.

"Yes. They got out of a deep pit before by luck! This time, they won't be quite so lucky. Grab those metal poles and some of that scrap metal… we're going to finish the pit. Murky decided upon a heavy duty lock from his collection, and then led the way to the new area that Lurky had construction. Lurky followed behind him, struggling to carry the large pile of poles and scrap metal.

Murky descended set upon set of stairs, going into the deepest part of the Pits where the tunnel system ran. It began as three separate entrances, and beyond that became more complicated, each tunnel branching off at random intervals, running into the other tunnels, and then branching more. The tunnels ran for miles under the Pits, and any unfortunate soul who became lost would die trying to find a way out. Murky entered the middle tunnel, following the dim lamps that had been set up at ten foot intervals at his request. The tunnel divided in two, and the lamps continued down the left side. Murky followed the lamps until they veered sharply to the right, leading to a large open cavern within the tunnels. He took the nearest lamp off the wall and made his way to the edge of the pit. A large rope dangled over the edge, one end secured to a large boulder nearby. "How deep?" he asked as he held the lamp over the edge to get a glimpse inside.

"Gee Murky, I'm not sure," replied Lurky.

Murky groaned, and then glanced around for a small rock. He found one near his feet and tossed it into the pit. Listening closely, he waited for the rock to hit the bottom. He counted the seconds, and heard the distant pinging a few seconds later. Pleased, he turned to Lurky. "Good job. Now we need to install this and we'll be ready for tonight. If we're lucky, we'll capture the Color Kids!"

Stormy entered the Castle, deciding to check on Moonglo before reporting to the other Color Kids. She made her way to Rainbow's room, entering the darkened bedroom. Her eyes easily adjusted to the darkness and she quickly noticed that Moonglo was asleep, head lying on the comforter while the rest of her body sat in the chair. It had to be an uncomfortable position to sleep in. Anger began to well up inside her; they had entrusted Moonglo to watch over Rainbow and keep her safe. She held her breath, counting slowly; the anger slowly faded away. It would do no good to get angry at Moonglo; she had been up the entire night and had used a great amount of energy in creating the night sky. She debated on whether or not to wake her, deciding to simply let her sleep. With everyone in the Castle and the sprites alert, she doubted that Murky would get very far. Double-checking that the Color Belt still hung from the bedpost, she turned and headed for the Color Console.

"Stormy! There you are!" cried Shy Violet as Stormy exited Rainbow's room.

Stormy put a finger to her lips. "Quiet! Moonglo's worn herself out. She's fallen asleep," she whispered, more harshly than she had intended to.

Shy Violet quickly covered her mouth before uncovering it and speaking more softly. "We've got more trouble," she whispered. "Come with me."

Stormy quietly followed Shy Violet to the Color Console room, where the rest of the Kids were deep in conversation. They stopped when the two girls entered. "What's going on?" asked Stormy.

"Color is fading in Rainbow Land; Romeo found the tomatoes were losing their luster," explained Shy Violet.

"What are we going to do?" asked Indigo. "If there's no color, then Murky gets his way!"

"We can't panic," stated Canary Yellow. "We have to think positively about this."

"But without Rainbow, we're doomed," replied Patty O'Green, ignoring Canary Yellow's remark all together.

Stormy listened as each of the Color Kids voiced their own concerns. No one knew what would occur if Rainbow continued to be unconscious and deny the Color Belt as her own. Rainbow Land would slowly fade, and the Pits would take over as the dominant area.

"I expect that Earth is experiencing something similar," explained Shy Violet. "If we are losing color here, then that planet must be as well. It's a double-effect of sorts. We could each travel to Earth and spread our star sprinkles, but then that would leave very few of us to run the Color Console." She tapped her chin, the gears in her brain turning. There had to be a solution to all of this.

"What do you think, Stormy?" asked Tickled Pink.

"How am I supposed to know? I don't deal with color. I take care of weather. Color's not my thing," she retorted.

Lala Orange spoke up. "I don't think we have much of a choice. We either take turns going to Earth, or we let all the colors disappear."

"We need Rainbow back… we can't do our job and hers too!" shot Buddy Blue.

"Let's just focus on getting through the day," decided Red Butler. "Everyone's tired from last night. We'll take things slowly and change our plan as needed. Sound good?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

By nightfall, Murky sat back, admiring his handy work. He'd rigged the metal poles into the stone so that the Color Kids wouldn't be able to escape once inside, not that they'd be able to with the gloom cloud over their heads. He had attached a hinged metal door to the center, and padlocked it shut. It would keep the brats out of his way, especially once he added the gloom cloud over the prison pit. "Lurky, get into the prison pit! I want to test something!" he called.

Lurky had been rigging up the gloom machine for later. "Why do you want me in there, Murky? It's not for me."

"I know that banana brain. I need you to test the bars and see how strong they are."

"Oh, so you want me to be a monkey? I like monkeys."

Murky smacked his forehead. "Just do it!" he commanded.

Lurky walked across the bars, and sat down to ease himself inside. He gripped the bars, and began swinging himself back and forth. He crossed between the bars and continued to swing. "This is fun, Murky. You should try it!" he called up.

Murky had been studying the strength of the bars, as Lurky swung back and forth. "Get up here, bozo. They'll hold just fine. We won't have to worry about anyone breaking out… or breaking in…" After a few moments he noticed that Lurky was still swinging back and forth, ignoring his command. "Lurky! Get up here! We've got to go to Rainbow Land and I need you to get the Grunge Buggy while I get some supplies!"

"Awww…" replied Lurky as he began swinging himself back toward the door. He climbed out of the pit and made his way back to Murky.

Within an hour, the two were ready to head to Rainbow Land. It was now nearing midnight and Murky knew that the inhabitants would be tucked into bed, not suspecting a thing. He rubbed his hands together in glee as he sat in the sidecar of the Grunge Buggy. He was positive that none of the Color brats would suspect him or his wonderful plot, which was all the more reason to take care of the issues before they began to get on his case. He turned to watch Lurky, who was hooking a large cage car behind the buggy to keep the Color Kids in. He patted his trusty gloom gun in his lap. It would be put to good use tonight, and there was very little to be done to stop him.

Lurky jumped into the Grunge Buggy, having made the last few adjustments. He started the noisy contraption, and it roared to life. "Everything's ready, Murky," he answered dutifully, as he shifted it into gear.

"Excellent. Let's sneak into Rainbow Land. No need to be rude and wake those who are sleeping, right?"

"But Murky, I thought we wanted to wake the Color Kids," asked a confused Lurky.

"It was a figure of… oh never mind! Just drive quietly! And keep quiet! I can't afford for this to go wrong. We only get one good chance at surprising them." Lurky didn't reply, following Murky's strict orders. He drove slowly toward Rainbow Land, visions of the horseys he could ride once Murky had taken over dancing in his head. He especially wanted to ride the one with the pretty rainbow mane. It was going to be a dream come true.

Deep within the Color Castle, the Color Kids slept soundly, tired after a long day of work and worry. No one had any definite solutions to the problems at hand, and that frustrated and worried them. Without Rainbow Brite, they felt unprotected and weak. Without her to perform her duties, the strength that allowed each of them to keep the color brilliant and bright in the universe weakened. Moonglo had left shortly after sunset to perform her nightly duties, and Stormy had been left in charge of watching over Rainbow since she had no real reason to leave the Castle. She had readily agreed after noting the exhausted looks of the Color Kids.

Stormy sat at Rainbow's bedside on the same chair Moonglo had occupied earlier. She had it tipped backward, using her right foot to balance as she watched the ceiling, or what little she could see in the darkness. She hadn't fooled with the heavy curtains, which made the room even darker than it usually was. She didn't mind the darkness, though it would be better if it were mixed with a thunderstorm of sorts. The addition of thunder and lightning would make for an excellent show, but she'd have to stick with picturing it in her mind, instead of conjuring one up. She was so bored, and didn't see how anyone could enjoy nursing someone back to health if all they did was sit around most of the time. She'd only been at it a few hours and was going crazy not having to do anything.

Rainbow's status hadn't changed. No one knew what was wrong, or what to do. Stormy had a gut feeling that it had to do with Murky, but they didn't even know _what_ was affecting her, so it couldn't be pinned directly to Murky without any sort of evidence. She would have rather they burst into his lair and take care of him before he did something worse, but no one would have followed her; they knew of her temper and heedless nature. Doing nothing and attempting to forge on did no good either. She sighed in frustration. Being patient sucked.

Slowly backing the Grunge Buggy into a tangle of bushes, Lurky whispered, "Is this good enough?"

"Yes. No one expects us and none of the sprites will be awake at this hour," answered Murky in a hushed voice. He became serious and stern with his next statement though. "Now listen to me and listen well. You aren't going to speak in the Castle. Not a word. If anyone finds out we're here, then my plan won't work and you won't get your horseys, got it?" Lurky nodded, and clamped a hand over his mouth just to show Murky he was serious. "Good…let's go!"

They quickly crossed the bridge to the Color Castle and snuck inside. Murky knew to steer clear of Rainbow's room. He would have loved to see if the belt had been cast aside, but it wasn't going to risk it. He could use the gloom cloud to his advantage and get it out of the Color Kids later. He quickly moved past, noting that whatever hung from the door kept him from being seen. This was better than expected. He continued on to the next room, and peeked inside, spotting Patty O'Green sleeping soundly. He motioned to Lurky to stay put and went inside.

It all seemed rather easy. He made his way to the bed and pulled the trigger, the gun emitting clouds of gloom around where Patty slept. "Wakey, wakey," he called, cackling softly to himself. Patty shot up at the sound of Murky's voice and was about to call out when the gloom cloud began to produce its effects on her. Her demeanor changed and she slumped forward slightly. "Quiet!" commanded Murky in low tones. "There's no point in speaking since there's no Rainbow Brite to rescue you."

Patty merely nodded at him. "Right…" she mumbled.

"Now follow me and stand behind Lurky. We're going on a trip." He smiled gleefully as the green Color Kid followed his instructions, slowly sliding out of bed and waiting to follow him. He led her to where Lurky stood, and continued on to the next Color Kid's room.

He soon found himself standing before Red Butler, the one he knew could be an arrogant leader at times. _Not so arrogant now, are you? _he thought to himself. Again, he pulled the trigger on the gloom gun, spreading gloom clouds all over Red Butler's upper body. "Wake up, buddy boy," he called softly. Buddy's reaction was very close to Patty's, but before he could do anything, the gloom cloud took over his mind. He slumped forward in bed, drawing his knees to his chest. "Follow me, Red Butler…there's no point in thinking your friends will come save you…" he instructed.

Red Butler merely nodded. "As always…" He climbed out of bed and stood at attention.

"Follow me to Lurky… then follow behind your friend Patty. No peeps from you now…no good to talk when you can be quiet instead." Red nodded and followed Murky to stand behind Patty O'Green.

Murky continued throughout the Color Castle quickly, wanting to finish the job and get the Kids locked away. Once he could do that, then part two of his plan would be completed. Buddy Blue, Tickled Pink, Canary Yellow, Lala Orange, Shy Violet, and Indigo were soon roused from their beds and doused in gloom cloud. He had gathered the main Color Kids, and considered looking for Stormy and Moonglo. All too soon he realized that Moonglo was doing her nightly duties. He wondered if the Stormy brat was the one keeping watch on Rainbow. The Color Kids wouldn't leave her completely unguarded. He considered going and capturing her, but the risk was too great. With eight Color Kids, the chance to lose them all based on one putting up a fight was too great. He decided to cut his losses and take what he had. He didn't feel like facing her storms again just yet. _Besides_ he reasoned in his head _she doesn't affect the rainbow so she's of no use to my plan just yet. I can capture her later._

He exited the Castle behind the last Color Kid, Indigo, and looked at the beautiful sight before him. He had finally captured all of the Color Kids and was going to get away with it. Lurky led them back to the Grunge Buggy, and Murky worked to lock them all in the cage. Not wanting to risk the cloud wearing off before they were able to lock them away, he began shooting more clouds over the Kids' heads, prolonging the effects. Hopping in the Grunge Buggy, he began giving instructions to Lurky. "Sneak off again so we wake no one. Let's get back to the Pits and lock these brats away."

Lurky drove silently, obeying Murky's commands as if his life depended on it. The Grunge Buggy sputtered before taking off, disappearing over the horizon and back into the Pits. Every so often, Murky turned around in his sidecar, unable to believe his fortune. He was rather certain that it was all merely a dream, and that he'd wake up as he'd done so many times before. Reassuring himself that he wasn't dreaming, he looked forward to dropping those Kids deep in the Pits where they wouldn't be found ever again.

Stormy shot up from the half slumber she'd been in. She wasn't sure what had woken her up. "Musta been some silly night noise," she reasoned to herself. She rose from her chair and went to the curtains, pulling them back so that she could step into the hallway of the Castle. She didn't notice anything out of place and she couldn't hear anything else. Figuring it couldn't hurt, she took a look outside the Castle door to see if anything seemed out of sorts, but everything was quiet and peaceful. "This is stupid. Something silly wakes me and I get all worked up." She returned to her post by Rainbow's bed, falling asleep shortly there after.

**Seems like Murky's succeeded in getting the Color Kids... what else does he have in store for the remaining inhabitants of Rainbow Land?**


	6. Cry for Help

**I finished chapter 9 last night, so that meant it was time for me to upload chapter 6 here. I had a lot of fun with chapter 6. I tried something different in this chapter, and it crops up again in a later chapter as well. Keep an eye out for it! I'm not sure when I'll post chapter 7 here. I'm working on a new oneshot Valentine RB fic and it's about halfway done. After that, I'll begin work on chapter 10 of this story and hopefully have chapter 7 posted here by next week. Enjoy, and feedback and comments are always appreciated!**

**Chapter 6 Cry for Help**

He whistled a tune, a grim dismal tune that made him grin from ear to ear. He still couldn't believe the good luck he'd had as he crossed into the Pits. He couldn't believe how it continued when he and Lurky took the Color Kids to the prison pit and no one burst in to save the day. He turned the key in the lock and withdrew it, his plans complete. Below him sat the Color Kids, still under the control of the gloom cloud. He used a nearby lantern to peek in on them, noting that they sat in groups or wandered about aimlessly. "And now to add more gloom cloud to keep them quiet…can't have them waking me up at odd hours in the night, bwhahaha!" He directed a small metal contraption on wheels near the pit before drawing a long hose from the side. To anyone, it might resemble a broken down vacuum cleaner. He lowered the hose into the pit and turned the machine on with the flick of a red switch. Gloom cloud swirled down into the prison pit, securing the depression surrounding the Kids.

Satisfied, Murky turned to leave, knowing the machine would continue to spew forth gloom cloud on ten minute intervals, and could continue to do so for a twelve hour period. After the time had expired, Murky would simply have to add more of the potion to create the clouds and continue the cycle. Lurky followed behind him, taking lamps down and setting them into a crate he carried. In each lamp's place, he made a white chalk line so that they would find the location of the prison pit later on. Murky wasn't chancing that one of the brats he hadn't captured would sneak into the tunnels to free their friends. Once everything was taken care of, he and Lurky went their separate ways to catch some sleep. Murky had a feeling he would have a most wonderful dream about a colorless world.

Wind whipped through her hair, lavender locks flying behind her as her nimble fingers gripped at Skydancer's mane. This was the race to end all races, the race that would determine the fastest horse in the universe. Her mind wandered to the many breeds and varieties she had glimpsed prior to the beginning of the race and beamed with pride, knowing that Skydancer could beat any of them. She knew the race was hers as she whipped along the trail, Skydancer seeming to know exactly where obstacles seemed to be. They came upon a pile of scattered logs in the pathway, which Skydancer was easily able to jump over and continue on effortlessly. Yes, this race would be an easy one. _Too easy…_ she thought, as her mind turned toward Rainbow Brite and Starlite, the only horse and rider who could beat Skydancer in a race.

Her mouth set in a firm line, she continued forward. It didn't matter that they had not entered into this race, or that Starlite had not insisted upon it. After all, he did proclaim himself as "the most magnificent horse in the universe", and such a horse would enter in this race. It didn't matter, as soon Skydancer would be proclaimed the winner, and then she'd have nothing to worry about. They'd be known across the universe for this feat, and she smiled to herself, knowing how they'd outshine Rainbow Brite in something for once.

She was brought out of her reverie as Skydancer skidded to a sudden halt, kicking up dust and pebbles in the process. She squeezed her eyes, nose, and mouth shut on instinct, keeping the debris from harming her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see what had caused Skydancer to halt so suddenly in the middle of a race. She was shocked to see Rainbow standing before her, staring up at her, a fearful look plastered on her face. Stormy eyed her, noticing that her usual attire was tattered and dusty, as though she'd been in a fight of sorts. "They're gone, Stormy, all of them. I tried… to save them… no use." The other racers flew past the trio, having caught up. No one cared about the appearance of the lone girl in the tattered, dusty clothing. "I failed…" whispered Rainbow as she sank to her knees before Skydancer, admitting defeat.

A range of emotions shot through Stormy. She felt sympathy, in her own way, through the anger and rage that coursed suddenly through her veins. "I won't fail, Rainbow. I promise you that! No one messes with my friends and gets away with it. Come on, Rainbow. You're not giving up either." She glared down at the protector of Rainbow Land, offering a hand. Rainbow merely looked back at her, seemingly backing away from the proffered hand. "Don't make me drag you onto Skydancer. You don't have a choice in this!" Rainbow timidly reached for Stormy's hand, which Stormy immediately grabbed. Pulling her up, she placed Rainbow directly in front of her on Skydancer. She didn't trust that Rainbow had the strength to hold onto her.

She turned Skydancer around, racing back across the landscape, back the way she had come. Rainbow was like a ragdoll in front of her, and Stormy found it hard to hold on to Skydancer's mane in a way that secured both her and Rainbow. "Not gonna fail, not gonna fail," she mumbled to herself over and over….

"…not gonna fail," Stormy mumbled, feet propped on Rainbow's bed as she slept uncomfortably in the chair, arms resting across her chest. Her head gently tossed back and forth. "Let's go… Skydancer…"

Moonglo ran into the room, quickly pushing back the heavy curtain in front of the door. "Stormy! Stormy wake up!" she shouted, worry etched on her face.

Stormy continued to slumber on, a deep sleeper used to falling asleep to the sounds of vicious thunderstorms. "Hold on…" she mumbled.

Moonglo frowned and began to shake her sleeping friend. "There's an emergency! Get up!"

Stormy's eyes suddenly opened, her feet pushing against the bed, which caused her chair to tip backwards. As soon as she realized she was falling backwards, she began waving her arms in the air, trying to catch her balance. "Whoa!" she cried out, certain that she would hit the floor. She realized suddenly that she was staring up at the ceiling, but hadn't hit the floor. She turned her head, finding that Moonglo had stopped her mid-fall. She saw the upset look on Moonglo's face as she sat the chair upright. "What's wrong?" Stormy asked.

"The Color Kids… gone… I don't know where. I can't find them, and they wouldn't just disappear."

Stormy blinked, as the information sank into her waking brain. It finally registered. "What do you mean, gone?"

"They aren't here. Not in their rooms, not at the Color Console, not in the processing room, not anywhere. There's no note and no one's made their beds."

"Where would they have gone? They know we can't do without them."

"I think Murky took them."

"Why? We don't know that they wouldn't go to Earth."

"Stormy! That'd be the silliest thing they could do! They would never all go at once!"

Stormy rubbed her face, trying to wash away the sleepiness she still felt. "Wait…yeah you're right." She yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "We need to look for them, especially if Murky's captured them. What do we know so far?"

"Nothing," replied Moonglo. "I don't think they were seen. None of the sprites saw anything and Twink was asleep. They got away pretty easily with everyone."

Stormy frowned. "I didn't even hear them. Unless…" Realization dawned on her. "I was asleep when they came! It's my own fault. I was on guard and didn't hear anything." Stormy stamped her foot in frustration. "I should have caught them. They had to go right past Rainbow's room to get to the Color Kids!"

Moonglo laid a calming hand on Stormy's arm. "The curtains we hung are very heavy. They must be able to muffle sound pretty well," she reasoned. "I couldn't hear anything yesterday that went on outside the door."

Stormy sighed. "That doesn't matter. I should have heard him! I should have stopped him! I was the one guarding Rainbow while you were out taking care of the night."

"Stop it, Stormy. There's nothing we can do now to fix it. We have to figure what to do to get them back."

"I'm going to go look for the Color Kids. If Murky's got them, then they should be easy to find. He always leaves a trail, eventually." Stormy had balled her fists at her side in determination.

"Be careful," warned Moonglo. "You and I are the only ones left to watch over Rainbow and you can't be caught too. Rainbow needs both of us."

Stormy nodded. "I've got Skydancer and he's the best. We'll be back before you know it. Murky'll pay for what he's done, you can bet on that!" Stormy marched from the room, and before the curtain swung shut, Moonglo heard her calling for Skydancer. All was quiet after that and she turned to look at Rainbow, moving to the side of the bed. She took Rainbow's hand in her own.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but we really need you back. Everything's falling apart, and I don't know what we need to do. I'm not as strong as Stormy is." A tear escaped her eye, and fell onto Rainbow's limp hand. Moonglo squeezed it, hoping that somehow Rainbow would be okay, and soon.

Skydancer raced across the expanse of Rainbow Land and directly into the Pits. Stormy was determined to find the Color Kids at all costs; she knew that Murky had taken them hostage and was going to get them back from him. She studied the ground as they raced by, looking for anything Murky might have dropped or left behind. She scanned the area in frustrated, but did a double-take when something bright orange up ahead caught her attention. "Stop, Skydancer," she ordered. She jumped from his backside as soon as he'd halted and picked up the orange object, a beret, knowing it belonged to Lala Orange. It had been stuck between a set of boulders. She dusted it off and studied it. If she hadn't been certain before that Murky had a hand in any of this, she was now. She stuffed the beret into an inner pocket and pulled herself back up onto Skydancer. Instinctively, he took off, heading closer and closer to Murky's lair deep within the Pits.

As Stormy surveyed the perimeter, she tried to decide what to do. Confronting Murky face to face would be the best idea, but she had promised Moonglo she'd come back safe. She didn't know what sort of traps Murky would spring onto her, or if he'd attempt to capture her as well. She tried to figure out what Moonglo might do in her situation, knowing deep down that she would simply have surveyed the area and then figured out what to do. _Even Rainbow would do that, but she'd find a way to get Murky out as well._ "Skydancer, let's keep looking. There must be something here!"

"Hey Murky!" called out Lurky, spying Stormy outside.

"Oh really?" asked Murky, feigning interest. He wasn't worried about either of the two Kids that weren't captured. They couldn't save Rainbow Brite and they wouldn't stop him either. "Who is it?"

"One of Rainbow's friends is here, the one with purple hair. I wonder if she came for a visit?"

"I'm sure she did… she's looking for her other friends, you dolt!" Murky slammed his potions onto the table and made his way to the window. "She wouldn't do anything. They won't do a thing without their precious Rainbow brat! Just wait and see!"

"Why don't we just take her too?" asked Lurky, confused. He was certain that Murky had wanted to capture all of Rainbow's friends.

"I could easily do that! I want to play for awhile, give them a fighting chance to beat me. I don't need those two anyway. They don't affect the colors in Rainbow Land or on Earth. Moonglo is the only one who uses colors in her work, but she's not responsible for any certain color. Her night sky will be dark and gloomy, no matter what she does to it."

"What if they do beat you, Murky?"

Murky slapped his arm. "They're not going to, idiot. By the time they think to use Rainbow's Color Belt, it'll be too late. We're going to steal that pretty little piece tonight. I need it for the next part of my plan!"

"What is the next part?"

"You fool! I can't tell you just yet. You'll find out soon enough," replied Murky, turning away from the window and heading back to his lab table. He began working with the same two potion bottles again. Truthfully, he wasn't sure what the exact plan for tonight was, but he had the rest of the afternoon to work out any kinks. He wanted to keep striking before Stormy and Moonglo could recover from the previous attacks. He would beat them down until they could retaliate no more, and would willingly hand over Rainbow Land to him, knowing it was the only option they had left. He could easily picture it in his mind… Stormy and Moonglo would be on their knees before him, giving themselves over to him. He'd be kind of course, and make them his slaves, while he proudly wore the Color Belt instead of Rainbow Brite. As for her, he'd toss her into the Pits with the other Kids… she would be quite useless without her precious Belt.

Lurky continued to observe the window, watching Stormy with interest. He waved at her, but she didn't wave back at him. Frowning, he tried again, but the result was the same. He pouted at the window, and didn't bother Murky. Five minutes later, Stormy disappeared from his view and he was stuck once again looking at the grayish gloom that was so common. _I wish there was some color here… it's not pretty like Rainbow Land is._ He sighed and walked toward the stairwell that would lead him to the various other rooms in Murky's lair. Murky glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Go check on those Color Brats while you're at it," he called after Lurky. "Make sure everything's just as it should be."

"You got it Murky!" replied Lurky cheerfully as he bumbled down the staircase toward the tunnel entrance.

Murky mixed the contents of the two potions together, smiling in satisfaction when he saw a poof of gloom cloud burst forth. "This will be perfect for my new Belt and star sprinkles… thank goodness I didn't get rid of the ones left behind from when the Princess came visiting… they are going to save me a lot of trouble once I have that Belt," he said to himself, thinking of the two boxes full of star sprinkles that he'd locked into one of the rooms that was never used for anything. He couldn't handle seeing the bright, cheery colors every time he opened the boxes, yet he couldn't part with them either. So he'd saved them instead, knowing that he'd use them when he had the perfect plan.

He glanced toward the window, noting that it would be useless to engage Stormy; he knew she wouldn't attempt anything at this point, even though it was in her nature to do so. With only her and Moonglo remaining, his gut instinct told him that she would avoid taking any big risks. He wasn't willing to risk capturing her either, not when there was a chance that she would overpower him with her control of the weather. No, he was going to play the waiting game on this one, for he had a bigger prize to capture. Once he had accomplished that, not even Stormy would be able to best him. He would have the control, the upper hand, and he would win this time around. He'd taken out Rainbow Brite. He was going to have that Color Belt. _Combine the two of those together and I have the ultimate takeover of Rainbow Land!_ He thought to himself as his laughter echoed in the laboratory.

**Looks like Murky's got a pretty good plan this time around...the question is, will he succeed?**


	7. Spritely Diversion

**Pretty proud of myself! Not only was I able to do that oneshot, but I also was able to finish chapter 10 this weekend too, and still complete my tasks for school. Things should get easier with school, once I get the hang of everything. Right now it's really hectic and crazy. Enjoy this chapter, and as always, let me know of any mistakes you find!**

**Chapter 7 Spritely Diversion**

Stormy returned to the Color Castle by afternoon, frustrated after a long, pointless search effort. She had circled the perimeter of the Pits, watching for any action from Murky's lair. Upon finding none, she had worked her way through the cliffs and mountainous area surrounding the Pits, coming up with nothing. So far, Murky had covered his tracks quite well, and she could discern nothing out of the ordinary. She slid from Skydancer and wordlessly dismissed him until she needed him again. In silent anger, she marched into the Castle, searching out Moonglo. As she entered Rainbow's room, she spotted Moonglo, catching her in the middle of a yawn.

Moonglo quickly stifled her yawn when she spotted Stormy entering, noting that she appeared angry. Instead of speaking up, she simply watched as Stormy stomped over to her and then reached a hand inside her outer coat, pulling out a crumpled orange piece of fabric. Stormy tossed it to the floor and Moonglo quickly recognized it as Lala Orange's beret. She noted the specks of dirt covering it, the fabric that was wrinkled, and then looked up at Stormy.

"Found that on the ground. Nothing else! Nothing! He's made them disappear!" began Stormy, ranting.

"At least we know he is the one who took them for sure," inserted Moonglo, trying to spin things toward a more positive light.

"That doesn't matter. He shouldn't have taken them in the first place."

"We'll keep looking for them. Murky's always slipped up in the end."

"I don't know," replied Stormy, shaking her head. "Something tells me that he's not going to slip up so easily this time around."

Moonglo looked toward the door, noticing a ruffling behind the curtains. She caught glimpse of a white face peeking inside before the body followed. Another body soon followed. "Kitty Brite and Puppy Brite have been sniffing around outside, seeing if they could find anything." She looked at the duo, who had made themselves comfortable at the foot of Rainbow's bed. "Anything?" Both animals shook their heads.

"I'm telling you, Murky's pulled out all the stops this time. He got Rainbow, he got the Color Kids, and now he's going to get his wish for no color. Everything's beginning to fade; the brightness and beauty are gone. Soon we won't have any color in Rainbow Land if we don't do something."

"The sprites are going to try taking the places of their Color Kids. I don't know if it'll work, but Twink's trying to organize it all," began Moonglo, changing the topic a little.

Stormy turned and exited the room, no longer able to stand the positive twists. To her, it seemed as though it was all a futile effort. They needed a real solution, not a band-aid solution. She was going to rely on her gut feeling that Murky was indeed a more formidable foe and that he wasn't going to muck up any time soon. She knew what she had seen and that she had to do something. Her dream only added to the confusion; she wasn't certain if it was only a dream, or if Rainbow was trying to communicate via her dream. She was going to find out. She was going to fix Murky Dismal for the havoc he was creating in Rainbow Land. She exited the Color Castle, intent on heading to the mountains for a bit of a cool down.

Moonglo sighed as the curtain swung shut. She didn't know what to say to Stormy, but she wanted to avoid anything that would trigger her anger. None of this was settling well with her, and Moonglo didn't know what to do. She was trying to be positive about it, but Stormy would have none of that it seemed. Moonglo knew Stormy wanted answers, but there were none to give to her. Everyone was in the dark.

Evening settled on Rainbow Land, and its inhabitants settled down for a night of well-deserved sleep. Twink had spent the day with the mining sprites, encouraging them to mine excess of color crystal before moving on to the Color Kids' sprites to work out a plan to take their places. An argument had ensued among the sprites when they realized that none of them knew how to operate the Color Console, but I.Q. had quickly learned the technology and taught the others. By the time they had gotten the hang of the technology, the sun had begun setting, and thus, they would begin working with the Console and star sprinkles the next day. Stormy had patrolled Rainbow Land on watch after her cool down, while Moonglo had been left to sleep and watch over Rainbow. Puppy and Kitty Brite had taken guard posts outside of the room as extra precautions. Now that evening had come, Moonglo had left to complete nightly duties and Stormy had taken her place in Rainbow's room. All seemed quiet at the moment, but it wouldn't stay that way for long…

Murky grabbed his trusty gloom gun, checking that it was fully loaded before meeting Lurky at the Grunge Buggy. He hummed a tune to himself while aiming the gun at invisible targets as he passed. He climbed into his sidecar, waiting for Lurky to arrive. He had no idea what that bumbling idiot was up to, but it most likely had nothing to do with where he should be right now, which was driving the Grunge Buggy to Rainbow Land. "Lurky! Let's go! We won't have much time to get the Belt if we don't hurry."

"Coming, Murky," called Lurky from the doorway to the lair. "I was just checking up on the Color Kids before we left."

"There's no need to worry about them right now. They won't be escaping anytime soon, and Stormy won't be rescuing them either…she has no idea where they are." He had caught the distant sound of rolling thunder earlier in the afternoon as she had left the Pits, empty handed.

Lurky started the Grunge Buggy, and it roared to life. He shifted into gear and sped off toward Rainbow Land. "What's the plan, Murky?"

"Easy. You'll create a distraction that will draw Stormy away from the Color Castle. Moonglo should be taking care of the night sky, so we won't need to worry about her. While you're doing that, I'll steal the Belt from Rainbow."

"What sorta distraction, Murky?"

"Scaring the sprites in their houses of course," replied Murky.

"But Murky, that's awfully mean."

"That's the point, banana brain. If you scare them, it'll bring someone running to save them and keep them from finding me! Now take this tracking device. I have the remote that goes to it and when I need to find you after I grab the Belt, it'll begin to beep. It'll lead me to you, so make sure you drive off and escape. Got it?" He handed the small device to Lurky, who stuck it in his fur.

"All right, Murky, if you say so." They drove into Rainbow Land, making their way past the forest and the sprite houses. Lurky dropped Murky off at the bridge to the Color Castle before driving off to the nearby sprite houses. Murky quickly crossed the bridge, jumping into a bush just outside the Castle door. He waited for the fun to begin.

It didn't take long before a screech was heard from the sprite houses and Murky covered his mouth to contain his laughter. Soon, more screeches and shouts joined the foray and Murky watched the door impatiently. Someone would come running, and he hoped that it would be Stormy. It only took a few more seconds before he heard the pounding of footsteps and then the backside of Stormy as she took off across the bridge, Twink quickly following after her. "My turn…" he whispered to himself, sprinting from the bushes and into the Color Castle.

~Moments earlier~

Stormy yawned and stretched, forcing herself to stay awake this time around. She wasn't going to mess up again. She glanced around the room, noting that everything was in place. The Color Belt hung above Rainbow's bed, faded as ever. The landscape was beginning to match, and she knew that soon the color would begin to fade completely. Her eyes wandered from the Belt to its owner, who still had not waken. If only they could figure out what was wrong with her, then they might be able to figure out how to cure her.

She jumped when she heard Twink's excited chattering as he slid down the pole into Rainbow's room. "Stormy! Something's wrong with the sprites! There's all sorts of shouting outside!"

"Let's go then! If it's Murky and Lurky again, they're gonna pay!" She quickly stood and raced toward the curtain, quickly shoving it aside and rushing toward the sprite houses, Puppy and Kitty Brite chasing after. She didn't realize that hidden in the bushes outside the door sat Murky, waiting for his moment to swipe what he believed was his.

~ Present ~

Murky went straight for Rainbow's room, knowing that now was his only chance. He threw back the curtain and raced inside, eyes darting about the room for his prize. He spotted the Color Belt, still slung over the bed above Rainbow's head. He had gotten lucky; not even Puppy or Kitty Brite were in sight since they'd followed Stormy. Quickly, he grabbed it and stuffed it inside his helmet before darting from the room again. He wasn't going to celebrate just yet though. This had been much easier than he had thought, as he had wondered if someone else might still be about the castle. No one came to stop him, so he continued forward.

However, he stopped in his tracks, not being able to resist taking one look at Rainbow and how far she'd fallen. He stepped to her bedside, observing her face, which did not appear peaceful. He knew that the gloom shadow had worked well enough to be fused completely with the body. It would keep Rainbow from waking of her own accord, or anyone else's. Nothing could pull her from the slumber that she was in, and the only possibility he could think of involved the Color Belt. Now that it was in his hands though, that knocked that solution right out the window. Rainbow Brite was no more. Someday he'd add her to his collection, or better yet, he'd make her his own personal slave. She'd serve him, unable to do anything as he strutted about wearing the Color Belt. Such a lovely scene in his mind. He smiled and shook his head. There would be time for daydreaming later. Right now, he had to slip quietly away from the Color Castle and from Rainbow Land.

Peeking outside the door, he noticed that Lurky was still doing his job as rain and thunder began to fall over the houses. Puppy and Kitty Brite stood near Stormy, Puppy Brite barking and Kitty Brite hissing. Sprinting, Lurky crossed the bridge and detoured behind the houses that were farthest from the commotion Lurky had created. He tiptoed and snuck about, darting from house to house with ease. No sprites were nearby, and if they were, they were too scared to come out of their houses and face whatever was outside. As if to prove a point to himself, he peeked into the window of the sprite house he was hiding behind and saw a group of orange sprites hidden beneath the table inside, eyes squeezed shut. They were shivering and shaking, not knowing that someone was watching them through their window.

Grinning, Murky continued on, until he had reached the edge of the forest. He went deep inside, looking for the perfect hiding place. He soon came to a clump of bushes and jumped inside. No one would find him here. No one would realize what he'd done until it was too late. He pulled out the remote that would alert Lurky, and pressed the red button upon it. A low beeping began, sending a signal out across Rainbow Land. All too soon, he knew that Lurky would receive the alert and begin driving back toward the Pits. Absently, his hand tapped against his helmet as he waited for Lurky to return.

"I'm gonna get you, sprite!" yelled Lurky, still running about as Stormy attempted to stop him. He bumbled about in no particular pattern, and this made it harder for Stormy to take aim. She couldn't predict his moves. Another bolt of lightning narrowly missed the top of his head.

"It's not working, Stormy," cried Twink from behind her.

"It will work. You watch and see!" yelled Stormy as she concentrated on her moving target.

Lurky dodged behind a house and began to feel a humming vibration from inside his fur. "Oh boy! Murky's ready to go!" He stopped chasing the blue sprite and ran for the nearby Grunge Buggy that he'd hidden behind a house. He hopped inside, and pressed his foot to the breaks, taking off for the Pits. This sudden change in plans caught Stormy off guard.

"Skydancer! Let's go!" she cried. She wanted to follow and hope that Lurky could lead her to the Color Kids. She could hear the pounding of Skydancer's hooves as he answered her call.

"Wait, Stormy! What about Rainbow?" called Twink.

Stormy, who was about to heft herself up onto Skydancer, stopped in her tracks. She debated with herself, deciding on what she should do. She knew there was the right answer, the one Twink would expect, and then there was another answer, her own stubborn way. She was about to go her own way when she realized that she hadn't seen Murky the entire time. Her heart sank into her stomach. Wordlessly, she ran toward the Color Castle, and directly to Rainbow's room. She threw back the curtain and quickly scanned the room. Rainbow was still safe in bed so Murky hadn't taken her captive. Her eyes then settled above Rainbow's bed, on the spot where the Color Belt was. Or rather, should have been. The spot was empty.

Rushing forward, Stormy quickly checked under the bed and behind it, making sure that the Color Belt had not simply just fallen from its post. She continued to search, knowing that with each passing minute, the Belt had been taken from the room. She knew, deep down, that Murky had been the one to snatch the Belt, and that he had created a trap which she had willingly fallen for. Lurky had been the diversion and she had run to take care of him, rather than stay behind, as she should have. Murky had expected she would leave and had easily gotten into the Castle with no one else around. She'd fallen into a trap, and had never even stopped to think that it could have been one.

She fell onto her knees, hands resting on the ground. Once again, Murky had struck during her watch. She had promised herself that nothing was going to happen as it had before, and once again Murky had made sure that she was made the fool, even if it was never his intention to do so. "I can't believe I messed up again… and this time I've lost the Color Belt. Without that, Rainbow's powerless. Murky'll wear the Belt, and he'll try to take control of Rainbow Land." She felt tears well up behind her eyes, but she wouldn't let herself cry. She had never let herself be so weak as to cry like some baby.

"What's going on, Stormy?" asked Moonglo as she walked into the room with Puppy and Kitty Brite following. "I was off in another part of Rainbow Land when I heard the commotion. Did something…" she trailed off as her eyes moved toward the empty spot where the Color Belt had set. She raised a hand to her mouth, complete shock written on her face. "The Color Belt! It's gone!"

Slowly, Stormy rose to her feet. "Murky took it. He created a distraction with Lurky outside. Twink came to get me and I went to take care of that. Murky must have snuck in and took it while I was outside. I fell for his trap. It's all my fault, again." She crossed her arms across her chest and looked down at her shoes.

"It's not your fault," replied Moonglo softly. "Anyone would have fallen for it, especially if no one else was left behind."

"But I don't fall for stupid things like that. I should have caught it. I should have come back when I didn't see Murky with Lurky."

"When we look back on our actions, there are always things we should have done. You can't change what happened, Stormy. We have to work on figuring out what to do."

"No. Not this time. I'm gonna go get that Belt back!" Before Moonglo could attempt to stop her, Stormy raced past and out the door. Moonglo shook her head. Murky was really messing with Stormy's head, even if he had never planned to. She had never seen her friend distraught before. Moonglo would have never said it to her face, but she had seen that Stormy had been near tears. No one had ever made Stormy cry and so seeing her so close to doing so worried Moonglo. She feared that Stormy would act rashly and get herself into trouble. They didn't need someone else taken down as well. Moonglo looked over at Rainbow and then back toward the door. Taking a seat, she decided to stick by Rainbow. She was the only thing that Murky hadn't taken for his plan yet. The night sky was barely decorated, but Moonglo decided that could wait. If things weren't solved soon, there wouldn't even be a night sky to look at, much less decorate.

"Rainbow, if only you could see what's happened… Murky might actually win this time around…"

**Doesn't look good for Rainbow and the gang... is Murky finally going to get his way?**

**Author Note 1: A reviewer asked about Kitty and Puppy Brite doing guard duty, and while they hadn't been specifically assigned that night, I did realize they were absent from the scenes and wrote it in. They're supposed to be absent from the room at the time. If anyone else catches mistakes, let me know and I'll fix 'em!  
**


	8. Negative Retaliation

**I actually finished chapter 11 the day after I finished chapter 10. I had gotten really inspired for it. However, I had wanted to wait before I posted the next chapter here. It seems that most of my writing is done on the weekend. I know this story has been getting hits the past few days, and I want to thank my last reviewer who caught my mistake for me. Enjoy the chapter, and hopefully very soon I will be able to say the story is finished. I expect no more than 2 or 3 chapters are left after chapter 11. Please leave feedback if you can :) I love reading what others think.**

**Chapter 8 Negative Retaliation**

Murky cackled gleefully as he held his most sought after prize in his hands. "Finally… all these years of plotting and scheming and failing and I finally succeed. I have done what no one before me could do, not even the Dark One!" Murky ran his fingers over the fabric, testing the weight and feel in his hands. "Once I add my own personal touch to this, then I'll be able to start taking control of Rainbow Land!"

Lurky sat on a stool in a corner of the room, attempting to work a paddleball. "What are you gonna do to it, Murky?" he asked as he completely missed hitting the ball with the paddle and smacked himself in the head instead.

"Fetch those color crystals we locked away…it's time we put them to good use!"

"Oh boy! They're so colorful!" exclaimed Lurky. "What are we gonna do with 'em?"

"I'm going to fix them first…then use them in my new Color Belt. No more dallying! Get a move on. I'm going to finish this tonight!"

Within minutes, Lurky had brought a crate of the color crystals to the laboratory. Murky cracked open the box and rubbed his hands together. "Time to make some star sprinkles!"

"How? You're not a sprite, Murky."

"No, bozo breath, but I do know how to do it. The last time we attempted to get into the Color Castle through the color crystal processor, I learned a thing or two, even though we didn't get very far. All we have to do is melt these crystals. Then we cut star shapes from the melted crystals and bake them. We'll have all the star sprinkles we could ever ask for!"

"Why don't we just go steal some?"

"Because then they'd figure out what we're up to! And I can't have that going on. I need them to think I'm the same stupid villain they always see!"

Murky and Lurky set to work creating star sprinkles. Lurky sorted the color crystals by color and Murky began the melting process. He found it to be very easy. A couple of color crystals could go a long way. He was able to cut the star shapes and then use a heat lamp to shrink the stars. With every batch, he cackled with glee. These star sprinkles looked exactly like the ones Rainbow Brite used. Before long, he had a small container of each color glistening atop the dirty table.

"Oh boy! So many pretty colors!" cried Lurky as he clapped.

"Yes, so many…" Murky grinned as he lifted a large bottle from the table that contained his special gloom water. He poured a liberal amount over each container. "Now I have gloom sprinkles for use with my new Belt!"

"Awww…" muttered Lurky.

Murky reached for his gloom gun, which sat on the far corner of the table. He grabbed the Belt, which sat next to it. Targeting the star on it, he pulled the trigger, enshrouding it in a cloud of gloom. The color that hadn't faded from the Belt became shades of grey. Murky quickly placed the new Color Belt around his waist, fastening it securely. "Time to try my new toy out…" He grabbed a handful of gloom sprinkles and held them to the Color Belt as he pressed his finger to the star. A negative rainbow emitted forth, circling the room. "Yes! Yes, it works just as it did before!" Murky danced about the laboratory in his glee. He slipped a handful of gloom sprinkles into his pocket for safe keeping.

"Uh… Murky?" interrupted Lurky.

"What is it _this_ time, zucchini brain?" asked Murky in frustration.

"Stormy's back and she doesn't look too happy…"

"What perfect timing! I guess I should welcome her to the Pits properly!" Murky raced for the entrance to his lair, hoping to meet up with Stormy. She was becoming more trouble than she was worth, and it was time to show her the real power behind the Color Belt. He fingered the fabric at his waist, thinking of all the power it held within.

Stormy circled the perimeter with Skydancer, trying to decide the best way to infiltrate Murky's lair without being caught. She had been working her way around the outcropping of rocks, clouds gathering in the distance. She'd do whatever it took to get that Belt back. She was going to prove she wasn't going to fail this time around, and she was going to get the Color Kids back in the process. _If only I could find another way in without having to use the front door!_ She sighed in frustration, silently tugging on Skydancer's mane to direct him toward the right again, which would allow them to circle in front of Murky's front entrance.

"Well, well… if it isn't you, Stormy!" called Murky with glee. He stood proudly in front of his home, hands on his hips. He made sure to show off his brand new addition.

Stormy turned sharply, glaring at Murky. Her eyes caught the distinct detail of the Color Belt around his waist, even though he was far away. She turned Skydancer to take the direct path. The rumbling of clouds grew ever louder as her anger intensified. She leaned forward on Skydancer, her eyes on her only target. _You'll pay for this Murky Dismal, if it's the last thing you ever do!_

"She's comin' right for us, Murky," commented Lurky.

"Yes, yes of course she is. That's what I want her to do…and at the last second…"

"She runs us over?" questioned Murky, interrupting.

"Just watch, banana brain!"

Stormy quickly advanced down the path, coming closer and closer to Murky. He stood there, not moving, which would make him an easy target. She raised her right hand to the sky, fingers twitching as she did so. She began to call upon the thunder and lightning that would strike Murky down, and leave her to finish him off. A smirk crossed her face. She would accomplish her goal and restore Rainbow Land.

Murky waited until she was a mere ten feet away with no hope of dodging his surprise attack. He noted her stance, saw her fingers twitching with the oncoming storm, and studied the determined the look on her face. _Not today, my dear!_ He pointed his finger to the star on his new Belt, and felt the power burst forth, a negative rainbow shooting forth and heading for its target. Skydancer reared up in protest of the sudden appearance, and Stormy had to quickly tighten her hold on his mane as she lost her balance. The rainbow narrowly missed its target intentionally, circling around in the sky and disappearing.

"Skydancer! Whoa! Calm down!" yelled Stormy as she hung on tightly.

"Oh no, dear Stormy. You're the one who'll go down," laughed Murky as he again pressed a finger to the Belt, emitting another negative rainbow. Controlling it, he directed it towards Stormy, whose eyes grew wide when she realized that it would hit her dead on. "Run away in fear!" he cackled.

The rainbow collided with Stormy, throwing her from Skydancer. She landed roughly on the ground, and rolled over in pain. She hadn't expected Murky to retaliate with the Belt. She lay flat on her stomach, willing herself to ignore the pain shooting through her nerves. She tried to raise herself up, but felt a sharp pain in her side. "This…is…stupid…" she muttered to herself. Focusing on getting up, she quickly pushed herself up off the ground, ignoring the pain she felt inside. "Skydancer!" she called, beckoning the frightened horse to her side.

Skydancer turned and trotted toward his mistress, knowing her intentions to remount and continue her battle. He let out a soft whinny, and Stormy reached to pat his sides. "Come on, Skydancer. We'll show him who's in charge here!"

"Oh no, I don't think you will," replied Murky, taking some more star sprinkles from his pocket and inserting them into the Color Belt. He pressed his finger to it, and another negative rainbow streaked forth. Attempting to control it, Murky willed it to split into separate strands before seeking out Stormy. The strands whipped around her, acting as though they were sharp pieces of ribbon. They easily ripped through her clothing and skin, before wrapping around her to constrict movement.

Stormy tried to move and free herself, but it was no use. She couldn't move with the pieces of Murky's rainbow binding her body. She quickly found that a hand was somewhat free, and twisted her fingers upward, summoning the lightning. Murky noticed her movements and before she could command the lightning to strike, the rainbow released her from its grip and tossed her though the air. Stormy landed near a group of boulders, and laid her cheek to the cool ground. She hurt all over, more than she ever had before. It took all the strength she had to pull herself into a sitting position. She noticed her clothing was tattered and torn and that her body was covered in cuts and bruises. She felt Skydancer rub gently against her head and closed her eyes.

"What's the matter, rain girl? Can't summon enough clouds for a proper storm?" asked Murky teasingly.

"Look, Murky! She's getting on the horsey!" cried Lurky.

"Can it, Murky!" she called weakly. Skydancer knelt down beside her, nuzzling the side of her face. Weakly, Stormy climbed onto his back, her hands gently gripping his mane. Her head fell forward against his neck, and she rested her eyes. She felt sleepy and wanted to rest. She couldn't remember feeling so much pain before. "Home…Skydancer…" she commanded in a weak voice. Skydancer walked slowly up the path toward Rainbow Land.

"Aren't we gonna catch 'em?" asked Lurky, confused.

"No, no we're not. I want to play with them some more. It's not fun if I win right away. Besides, it gives me another chance to use my new toy."

"But Murky, you've wanted to beat them forever."

"I know that dodo bird! However, it's time for them to suffer defeat! That way, they'll give in more easily when the time comes for us to take over Rainbow Land. The Color Castle will be handed to us on a silver platter!"

"Where are they gonna get a platter big enough for that?" asked Lurky, scratching his head.

Slowly, Skydancer made his way toward Rainbow Land. He was careful not to jar Stormy, who had passed out on his backside from the pain. She was like a limp rag doll, her fingers barely gripping Skydancer's mane. Every so often, he caught her mumbling to herself, but he knew that she wasn't speaking to him. He focused on getting her to the Color Castle, where he knew she'd be taken care of. He crept slowly past sprite houses that were still dark; sunrise was still an hour off for Rainbow Land. No one saw them creep past slowly, or heard Stormy's incoherent mumblings.

After a journey that had taken more than a half hour to complete, Skydancer knelt in front of the Color Castle, mindful of Stormy. He let out a long, sad whinny, hoping that someone would hear him and come to help. He sat, waiting for someone to answer his cries, knowing that he could do no more to take care of his mistress.

Twink twitched in his hammock, lost in sleep, dreaming of multitudes of color crystals and himself effectively running the color cave with no questions asked by the sprites. Rainbow was so proud of him and how quickly he was able to mine new color crystal each day. A big grin was plastered upon his sleeping face, and he rolled over in the hammock. He was slowly woken up by Skydancer's soft cries. He opened one eye and listened for a moment, then jumped from his hammock to peek over the balcony. "Oooh! Something's wrong!" he said in a worried voice before running toward the fireman's pole and sliding down quickly. He looked around Rainbow's room until he spotted Moonglo speaking with Nite Sprite. Puppy and Kitty Brite had curled up at the end of the bed, a toy ball with a string attached next to them. "Moonglo!" he called. "Something's wrong!"

"What's wrong, Twink?" asked Moonglo, concerned.

"Skydancer's outside and he doesn't sound very happy! I think something's happened!"

"If Skydancer's not sounding good…that could only mean…Stormy!" She ran out of the room and to the entrance to the Color Castle. To her horror, she found Stormy atop Skydancer's back, just barely hanging on. Her eyes looked Stormy over, noticing the tattered clothing, the disheveled hair, and the cuts and bruises that shown through the rips in her clothing. She could only cover her mouth with a hand to hide the shock that was so clearly written on her face. She hadn't expected this. She had known Stormy would go after Murky, but if anything, she had expected Stormy to return without finding anything. She had never expected that Murky would be able to so quickly retaliate and do it well.

"What do we do?" cried Twink, dancing about.

"We need to get her inside. Twink, you and Nite Sprite get the other side of Rainbow's bed ready for Stormy. We have to have them in the same room, or Murky might think of some other way to cause trouble." Twink and Nite Sprite dashed off for Rainbow's room, while Moonglo tried to figure out how to get Stormy into the Castle without making things worse. Things were more difficult when you worked alone.

Two hours later, Stormy lay comfortably in Rainbow's bed, or as comfortable as Twink, Nite Sprite, and Moonglo could make her. They'd used a cart with wheels to bring her inside, and taken care to remove her tattered clothing. Moonglo had done her best to clean Stormy up before placing a long white gown over her body. Twink and Nite Sprite tucked her into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"That should work for now," replied Moonglo. "I need to leave for a bit; if I don't get busy, the stars will stay in the sky all day long! What confusion that'll make! Twink, you keep an eye on Stormy, okay?"

Twink nodded. "Right!"

Moonglo and Nite Sprite took off to finish up their nightly duty. Moonglo knew it wouldn't take long to undecorated the sky, but she hated leaving Rainbow and Stormy unguarded. Whatever had happened to Stormy was done by Murky, and she had a horrible feeling that it involved the Color Belt that he'd stolen. She had guessed that it would increase his power, but to be enough to take out Stormy was unheard of. She wanted to hear Stormy's side of the story whenever she woke. "Oh, I wish this was all a bad dream, Nite Sprite, you know?"

Nite Sprite nodded, and answered her in sprite language. He was very animated, discussing Stormy's stubbornness and not listening.

"Now Nite Sprite, we don't know what happened yet. If Murky has the Belt, then he gained a lot of power. He could have created a trap for Stormy." Nite Sprite crossed his arms in disapproval. "Let's just finish up our job for tonight, and then you can rest. You're always cranky after a long night," answered Moonglo as disappeared into the sky. Nite Sprite grumbled, but followed suit. One by one, each star disappeared from the sky as the sun rose in dull colors.

**Now that Murky's able to manipulate the Color Belt, will Stormy and Moonglo have any chance at saving Rainbow and the Color Kids?**


	9. Dismal Dreaming

**It seems that weekends are the only time I really feel up to writing... teaching each day really drains me, and I usually only do the work required to be done for the next school day. So I look forward to the weekend, since that's when I feel not-so-tired and get my inspiration to write back. I know before I said 2-3 chapters left, but I don't think I can wrap everything up in chapter 12, so it looks like it might be 13 chapters at this point. I had a bit of fun with this chapter as well... see if you can catch the episode reference. It should be very easy to spot! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 9 Dismal Dreaming**

Stormy awoke slowly, not wanting to open her eyes. She was aware of a dull pounding in her head. Instinctively, she moved her hand to her forehead, rubbing her temples. She tried to open her eyes, but the bits of light she glimpsed were painful, and she quickly closed them again, groaning. She listened to the sounds around her, and heard someone nearby. "Hey…" she called softly, not sure if it was friend or foe. She tensed up as she heard them suddenly stop.

"Shhh…" came the whispered reply. Stormy heard whoever it was come closer, and then heard them kneel beside her. "Don't speak… or they'll hear us."

Stormy scrunched her face up, trying to figure out where she had heard that voice before. It suddenly clicked. "Moonglo?" she asked weakly. She felt a finger being put to her lips to keep her quiet.

"Listen to me, Stormy… Murky's taken us both. There's nothing left of Rainbow Land. It's a colorless place now. He took everything and made Rainbow his slave. She does whatever he wants…there's no hope left."

Slowly, Stormy opened her eyes and found that she was laying on a cold, stone floor. She tried to sit up, but felt dizzy as soon as she tried. She laid back down on the floor, and stared up at the ceiling instead, which was also stone. "Where are we?" she asked.

"In the basement of the Color Castle. Murky keeps us here for now, but he is making plans for us. He makes Rainbow drain color from objects, just for fun. He thinks it's funny."

"Where is Rainbow?" asked Stormy.

"I don't know," replied Moonglo. "He sticks her in the cell next door at night. We talk softly sometimes and she tells me what's been happening."

"How long have I been out?"

"It's been about a week," answered Moonglo, shaking her head. "Murky plans to make everything dark, and then take over Earth."

"We have to stop him," replied Stormy stubbornly.

Moonglo sighed. "I don't think so."

Stormy turned to face Moonglo, and gave her a long, hard stare. "You used to be so positive. Now you're negative."

"I tried to be, but when things just keep going downhill, it loses its appeal after awhile, you know?"

Moonglo started to reply, but quickly closed her mouth when she heard the light pounding of footsteps. She placed a finger to her mouth. "Pretend to sleep…and don't wake up," she whispered quickly. Stormy lay quietly on the stone floor, closing her eyes. Moonglo's words echoed in her mind.

"Pretend to sleep….don't wake up…. Pretend to sleep…don't wake up…"

When Stormy opened her eyes the next time, she found that she was someplace different, someplace very familiar. The room was darkened, yet she knew that she had been here before. She was on a bed of some sort, and she wasn't alone. Someone slept beside her. Her head turned, finding that Rainbow was her companion, and at once she knew she was in Rainbow's bedroom. Realizing that she had been having a dream, she quickly tried to sit up, wanting to prevent what she had seen from happening in real life. She grimaced and cried out when a bolt of pain shot through her body, causing her to quickly lie back down. Slowly, she remembered her battle with Murky, and how her rash rush into action had backfired on her. She hadn't thought that Murky would have acted so quickly with the Color Belt, but now she knew.

Her eyes wandered to Rainbow, barely able to make out the features on her face in the darkness. Even now, she could see the distressed look on her face. Whatever was affecting her was not pleasant. Out of curiosity, she reached out a hand slowly to touch Rainbow's face, recoiling quickly when she felt how cold Rainbow's skin was to the touch. She shuddered involuntarily. She closed her eyes again, wishing that this was a bad dream as well.

She found herself wandering an empty, barren terrain. Everywhere around here rose red-brown cliffs, towering over her body. She could feel the dust that the wind scattered across the land, taste it in her mouth. The air was dry and stale; she began to wish she had a glass of cool water to wet her parched throat, though she couldn't remember her throat being parched before that very thought. Cacti sparsely dotted the landscape, adding green specks to brighten up the otherwise dull gloom. Stormy shielded her eyes to glance upward toward the sun, searching to figure out the time of day. The sun was high in the sky – noon.

Trudging onward, she continued to walk a straight path, never knowing why, but feeling as though that was the direction she should be heading in. She became thirstier, and wished again for a glass of cold water. She could picture it so easily in her mind. Her fingers twitched at her sides, and she decided that if she couldn't have a glass of cold water, she'd get it another way. She raised her right hand toward the sky, calling upon the moisture in the air, willing it to gather into clouds. For a few minutes she continued, barely producing tiny wisps of clouds in the end, nothing that could be called a rain cloud.

Sweat beaded together on her brow as she continued to attempt to create a rain storm, but it was no use. There simply wasn't enough moisture in the air to create any sort of storm. She glared up at the white cloud wisps, a mockery of her true power. Stomping a foot in frustration, she continued onward, searching for a pool of water in the bleak landscape. It felt as though hours passed, and yet she still continued onward, her feet beginning to give out on her and her body covered in sticky sweat. She used a hand to shield her eyes from the afternoon sun and glanced around the landscape. Though she had been walking for quite some time, it felt as though she were moving nowhere, that she was passing the exact same cliffs and cacti that she had seen before.

Overhead, a rainbow darted from cloud to cloud, unnoticed by Stormy, who continued in her search for a pool of water. The rainbow touched down in front of Stormy, who continued forward, thinking it to be some sort of mirage. She knew such things occurred in places like this, and she wasn't going to be fooled by her mind playing tricks. She walked directly into the rainbow, and came out the other side, stopping in her tracks. There in front of her was Rainbow, sitting atop a large cactus. Stormy didn't realize that she had been coated in rainbow colors too.

Rainbow giggled and looked at her, smiling and pointing upward. "Hey, why didn't you look up at the rainbow?" she asked, a smiling playing on her face.

"I…what?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Why didn't you look up at the rainbow?" she asked again, smile never faltering.

"What's going on? How did you find me here?" asked Stormy, shocked.

"Come on now. I've been watching you. You want to find water, right?"

Stormy frowned. If this was a mirage, it was doing a pretty good job at convincing her it was real and not fake. She decided to play along. "Yeah, I do."

Rainbow pointed to her left. "Why, it's right there! See?"

Stormy looked to her left, doing a double-take when she realized Rainbow was right. There was a pool of water, surrounded by a large group of cacti that appeared to be providing a bit of shade from the harsh sun. Stormy raised a hand to her mouth, only then realizing that she had been affected by the rainbow. "I'm covered in color!" she exclaimed.

"Of course. You walked right into the rainbow."

"Get this off me, Rainbow. It's not funny." Stormy was quite certain she was going crazy. She was covered in colors and Rainbow was sitting atop a cactus, acting as though nothing was wrong. _That's really got to hurt as it is…_ she thought to herself. She watched as Rainbow hopped down from the cactus, and gestured at her.

"Come over here. You can't expect me to get the color off you if you're all the way over there, do you?"

Stormy frowned, not really trusting Rainbow's words, but wanting her usual colors back. She walked closer to Rainbow, who stood next to the pool of water. Oh how blue the water was, and how cool it looked! Stormy was becoming thirstier just thinking about it. She stopped in front of Rainbow, but couldn't react quickly enough when she felt Rainbow's hands push her into the pool of water. The last thing she heard was Rainbow's laughter as the cool water touched her skin, beginning to sink.

Down, down she sank, deeper and deeper into the pool of water. She made to kick her legs, trying to swim to the top again. Her hands moved in rhythm with her feet, but she just couldn't seem to swim back to the top. The more effort she put into swimming, the faster she seemed to sink within the pool. Its deepness never seemed to end and she felt herself tiring, losing breath. She reached out for something, anything that would keep her from sinking, but her fingers grasped water. She felt herself losing consciousness, and slowly, she gave in to the comforting darkness…

It was some time later when Stormy was awakened by the sound of sprite chatter. Groggily, she worked to awaken herself fully, not being able to even understand what the sprite was chattering about. Her ears felt as though they were full of water, as though she had just come up from spending a long period of time submerged. She heard another voice join the banter and wondered what was going on. Her eyes came into focus, and she saw the sources of the excited conversation – Moonglo and Nite Sprite.

~Earlier~

Moonglo yawned as she walked into Rainbow's room. She was exhausted after completing her night's work. Nite Sprite trudged in after her, dropping the bag that now seemed twice as heavy as it had before and plopping directly on the floor. His antennae drooped and he yawned. "Don't worry, Nite Sprite. I just need to check on these two and then you can go." Nite Sprite replied in a worried voice. "No, I'll be fine. I can't sleep on the job; these two need me."

Nite Sprite continued to chatter, stamping his foot in disapproval. Moonglo watched him before she spoke, allowing him to get his frustration out. "Nite Sprite, I'm the only one left who Murky hasn't taken or hurt. I need to care for our friends. I know you want me to sleep, but I can't right now." Moonglo walked closer to the bed, wanting to check on both Rainbow and Stormy. She walked to Rainbow's side first, and began fooling with the covers. She looked at Rainbow's face, and that's when she saw it.

"Nite Sprite! Come quick!"

Nite Sprite hurried to Moonglo's side and quickly climbed onto the bed. He noticed that Moonglo was pointing at Rainbow's face, and he squinted his eyes to make out what was there in the darkness. His eyes grew wide as he saw the strange new appearance on Rainbow's face. "You see it too, don't you?" whispered Moonglo.

Nite Sprite nodded his head in confirmation. He too had seen the strange blackish spot on Rainbow's cheek, next to the purple star. It seemed to be a swirling circle, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Nite Sprite reached out to touch it, but Moonglo pulled his hand away. "Careful," she warned. "Something's definitely not right here."

Rubbing his chin in thought, Nite Sprite tried to figure out a solution. He snapped his fingers and began to explain his idea to Moonglo, who listened intently. Finally, she nodded her head in agreement. "All right, that might work, but hurry back with I.Q., all right."

Moonglo turned back to the bed, looking over at Rainbow. She worried about what the spot could mean, what it might be. She knew that I.Q. was the only one left in Rainbow Land who had a chance of diagnosing the problem. While she waited, she moved to the other side of the bed to check on Stormy. She caught the glint of green that looked back at her.

"What's going on?" asked Stormy in a soft, strained voice.

"Rainbow has a dark spot on her cheek… I'm not sure what it is, but it can't be good. Nite Sprite went to find I.Q. so he can check her out."

Stormy nodded. "What's happened to me?"

"Murky got to you. You're pretty hurt. Twink and I took care of you the best we could."

"He's gonna pay for what he's done! You should have seen him wearing Rainbow's Color Belt! It was all grey and black and he got it to work for him!" The anger Stormy felt was building. "He made it split into ribbons and cut me. He was able to control it just as easily as Rainbow!" Stormy's voice began to crack and she suddenly felt very tired. She lay back on the pillows, enjoying the soft warmth radiating from them.

Moonglo smiled softly. "Don't tire yourself out so quickly. You need to rest. It looks like we're going to have to fight back or give up Rainbow Land to him."

"Don't…give…up…" Stormy spat out in a tired voice.

Moonglo nodded. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna give up, but you need to rest so we can make a plan." Stormy nodded and relaxed against the pillows. Moonglo heard a shuffling behind her and found I.Q. and Nite Sprite standing there.

"I.Q., there's a dark spot on Rainbow's cheek. Do you think you could check it out and see what it might be? I know you don't have Shy Violet to help, but could you try?"

I.Q. nodded and hopped up onto the bed, motioning for Nite Sprite to follow him. Both sprites hovered over Rainbow's face. I.Q. made humming noises every so often, tapping his chin in thought. He and Nite Sprite quickly conversed in sprite language. Moonglo watched the quick exchange. Both sprites finished the exchange, nodding at each other before turning to face Moonglo. I.Q. held out his hands and began explaining what he'd found.

Moonglo's hand flew to her mouth. A spot that was shadowy. I.Q. suspected that it had to do with Murky's gloom potions, but he wasn't sure. Knowing Murky's liking of the familiar concoction in various forms made it likely that it was simply another variation. I.Q. had a feeling that this shadow spot was only the beginning. "At least we know what it is, right?" she asked.

I.Q. nodded, but began to provide another explanation. Moonglo knew that it didn't matter which explanation he came up with. The fact of the matter was that Murky needed to be stopped at all costs.

**So Murky's invisibility potion wasn't all it was cracked up to be... how will Moonglo and Stormy deal with this new twist? Reviews welcome!**


	10. Beginning of Rainbow's End

**So it's been a crazy week and I didn't finish chapter 13, but this is why I have a backup set of chapters to post anyway. I've also got a side project I can work on now during the week, something I have now termed "The Color Kid Diaries". It doesn't require as much concentration as a long-shot, at least, that's how it is for me. I've posted the first entry as a concept piece on the Rainbow Brite forums so if you're a member there, go check it out. I don't think I'll post it here until I have all the entries done for the first "event". Anyway, I hope to have chapter 13 of this story finished next weekend. We'll see how the week goes!**

**Chapter 10 Beginning of Rainbow's End**

By mid-day the next day, the shadow spot had grown considerably in size. The entire left side of Rainbow's face appeared as though it were bruised. It was an awful sight to look at, and neither Stormy or Moonglo could stomach looking at it for very long. They almost preferred the spot to have been hidden, so as to not ruin the beauty that was Rainbow's face. Stormy felt much better after a good rest, and barely felt anything. Well, anything that she'd care to admit to someone. Moonglo kept her in bed, which bugged Stormy. However, she complied with the request. There were bigger things to think about.

"We need to get that Belt back," began Stormy, not willing to give up.

"I know," replied Moonglo softly. "How do we do it? Last night, when I was working in the sky, I saw Murky out and about. If you look outside…you'll see he's been very busy."

"He changed the land, didn't he?"

Moonglo nodded sadly. "It's grey. Everything is grey and ugly. I wanted to stop him…I just didn't know how."

"We can't do too much of anything if he has the Color Belt. We need to get it back before he really causes trouble."

"What are we going to do?"

"We go to the Pits today. We get the Color Belt back and use it to bring Rainbow back. Then we let her deal with Murky."

"How are we going to take the Color Belt from Murky?"

Stormy took a few minutes to think about it. "You," she answered simply.

"Me?" asked Moonglo.

"Yes," replied Stormy. "You can turn invisible; we can use that as a distraction for Murky."

For the next hour, the girls continued to work on their plan, deciding how they could trick Murky and get the Color Belt back. They didn't dare look at Rainbow's face, for they knew the shadow spot was getting bigger with each passing hour.

Murky leisurely made his way down the network of tunnels, following the chalkmarks on the stone walls with his lantern. It was time to refill his glorious machine and check on the pesky Color Kids once again. Quickly, he held his lantern over the prison pit. The brats were barely moving, but he could see a few of them wandering aimlessly around their prison, namely Patty O'Green, Shy Violet, and Lala Orange. They'd bump into each other before turning around and walking in a different direction. Murky knew he could probably put the Kids to good use one day, draining color for him instead of adding it. Rainbow Land was easy to take care of. Once he had the Mines and sprites working for him, he could figure out a way to travel the galaxy, draining color from Earth and other surrounding planet.

The machine was just ejecting the last of the gloom cloud potion, as Murky crossed the cavern to the machine. He could just hear the sounds of the Color Kids coming out of its stupor. He could imagine them coming to, wondering where they were when the last thing they remembered was sleeping safe and sound in their beds. First came the exclaims of surprise, then the shock when they realized where they were.

"We've got to get out of here!" Murky heard Red Butler say.

"Murky's done this to us. He'll pay!" added Buddy.

Murky couldn't resist taunting the Color Kids. The opportunity was too great to pass up. He was certain they wouldn't be able to escape; Lurky had proved that when he'd swung from the bars. "Oh dear, look what I've got in my pit!" he cackled with glee as he glanced through the bars at the Kids. He held the lantern over the Kids, causing them to squint from the bright light.

"You let us go!" cried Canary Yellow.

"Oh no! That would be no fun!" he replied.

"Rainbow Brite will save us. You wait and see. She'd never let us down!"

"You forget that your precious Rainbow Brite is out of commission!" This remembrance washed over each Color Kid and they frowned. "And I have her precious Color Belt too."

"It won't work without star sprinkles," retorted Shy Violet.

"Which is why I have cases of them here. The Evil Princess left them behind the last time, so I made my own. They're quite powerful. Stormy found that out first hand."

"You think you can keep us here, Murky Dismal?" asked Patty O'Green in a soft voice. "Stormy and Moonglo can still get you. You watch."

Murky waved his hand dismissively. He was growing bored of taunting the Color Kids, and quickly turned away from the prison pit. Flipping the switched, he waited and listened as the gloom cloud took effect on each Kid and effectively stopped their remarks and replies. "Peace and quiet again. How does Rainbow stand their chattering?" he muttered to himself as he began to make his way back to the lair, wondering if he could figure out a way to effectively get Stormy and Moonglo to hand over Rainbow Land.

"Starlite! Starlite!" called Moonglo loudly. She was wandering the areas near the Color Castle, trying to find Rainbow's horse. The land seemed so very strange without color. It gave her a creepy feeling inside.

"Stop calling for me as though I were some silly child," came the reply from within the forest covering.

"Oh Starlite! Stormy and I need you to help us out."

"If it's to insult me, I don't need to hear it. The most magnificent horse in the universe will not be insulted," he answered.

Moonglo crept closer to where Starlite's voice appeared to be coming from. "We figured out what was wrong with Rainbow. Murky's been up to no good." She waited for the reply, ready to tiptoe even closer.

"This had better not be some trick," answered Starlite. "I don't want to be tricked." Moonglo followed the sound of his voice, creeping closer and noticing a clearing up ahead. There lay Starlite in a bed of leaves and pine needles. He looked rather glum. Moonglo stepped into the clearing.

"It's not a trick. Stormy and I are going to the Pits, but we need your help too. We're going to get the Color Belt back. Stormy thinks that we may be able to use it to help Rainbow."

Starlite rose to his feet and shook off the excess leaves and pine needles. "Then what are we waiting for? Climb aboard!" Moonglo smiled at him and climbed onto his back. Starlite raced back toward the Color Castle where Stormy, Rainbow, and Skydancer were waiting. Moonglo and Stormy had worked together to bring Rainbow's unconscious body outside, not wanting to leave her unattended to. They were afraid that with everything Murky had already done, he'd somehow find a way to take her as well. They didn't stop to think that he might do the same once they were in the Pits.

Starlite stopped in front of the Castle and spotted Rainbow. "I am not going to carry her, if that's the only reason you found me," he replied stiffly.

"Stormy's going to carry her on Skydancer. I'm going to ride you," replied Moonglo.

"And I'm coming too!" interjected Twink as he ran from inside the Color Castle.

"Do you have enough?" asked Stormy.

"Course! There's plenty of star sprinkles in my pouch!"

The group readied themselves to go. Starlite helped Moonglo lift Rainbow up onto Skydancer. Moonglo climbed aboard Starlite and pulled Twink up behind her. She looked nervously over at Stormy. "Are you sure this will work?" she asked softly.

"Not completely sure, but we don't have a choice!" she called back. Before she could change her mind, she signaled Skydancer to head for the Pits. With one arm she held Rainbow upright on Skydancer, the other arm holding tightly to his mane. Starlite followed after them. "Remember, we're going to sneak toward an open spot and bring him outside! That's our best chance!"

"We don't have the rainbow," called Starlite. "How do we fight back?"

Moonglo patted his neck. "You and I are going to hide before Murky spots us. Stormy is going to use the storms to fight him. When the time is right, I'll turn invisible and steal the Color Belt from Murky."

"But why did we bring Rainbow with us?"

"It's part of our trap. We're going to pretend we're giving her to Murky. He'll think we've lost hope," called Stormy over her shoulder.

The sight of the Pits became ever closer, as the pathway became littered with rocks. If there had been any color left in Rainbow Land, it would have been easy to spot the darkened forest that normally lined the border. Loud peals of thunder could be heard. Stormy stopped, observing the scene before her. Glancing to her left, she grinned. "There! That cliff above Murky's hideout will work. Starlite, do you think you can get up there without being seen?"

"Do birds fly? Of course I can!" he replied.

"Good. See you soon, Moonglo!" Stormy urged Skydancer onward, heading for the direct path to the cliff top. Starlite took off in another direction, using the dense undercover of the forest to keep him hidden.

Lurky stared out the window of Murky's laboratory, completely bored out of his mind. He absent-mindedly rolled a toy train back and forth along the windowsill, watching the path. Murky had put Lurky on lookout duty while he worked on a new plan. He had locked himself into his room, and commanded that he not be disturbed at all costs. The usual storms that littered the Pits even seemed boring. He sighed and continued to roll the train on the sill. When Stormy and Skydancer first appeared on the horizon, Lurky thought he was daydreaming. He squinted.

"Is that Rainbow Brite too?" he wondered to himself. He squinted harder, his eyes becoming little slits. "It is! Oh boy! Rainbow's come to play!"

Lurky started to dash off for Murky's room and had reached the first step when he remembered Murky's words. "Surely he'd want to know about Rainbow coming to visit," he reasoned to himself. Lurky climbed the stairs and made his way to Murky's bedroom. He pounded on Murky's door.

Murky was deep in concentration, making notes from the various books around him. The loud pounding caused him to jump, and the ink bottle next to him spilled over his grey sheets. "Gah! Lurky! I told you not to bother me!" he yelled angrily as he blotted at the ink stain.

"But Murky!" came the call from behind the door.

"I said no buts, Lurky. I said you were to leave me alone and keep quiet!"

"But there's something—"

"There's nothing! I need to finish this plan!"

"But Rainbow Brite—"

"—is out of commission," finished Murky. "And her friends will soon follow."

"No Murky. She's here!"

"What?!" roared Murky. He sprang from the bed and yanked the door open. "Why didn't you say so peanut breath?"

"I was tryin' to!"

Murky pushed Lurky out of the way and dashed down the stairs. Rainbow Brite couldn't have come to the Pits. He'd made sure of it with the gloom shadow. There was no way that Stormy or Moonglo knew how to see it, or could have fixed it. As he continued to dash toward his laboratory, he worked to reason with himself. Racing to the window, he looked outside. He was barely in time to catch a glimpse of Stormy on Skydancer, and spotted a very much unconscious Rainbow Brite. He sighed in relief. So she wasn't fixed.

"Did ya see her, Murky?" asked Lurky from the doorway.

Murky rushed past him. "Come on! We're going to greet them properly! They're headed for the cliffs!" Lurky dashed after him.

Stormy finished the climb to the top of the cliffs and waited. She was certain that she'd been spotted by either Murky or Lurky. There was no way that one of them wouldn't be on lookout. Within seconds, she noticed she was right, as Murky and Lurky ran from the lair and looked up at her. "I've got something for you, Murky Dismal," she yelled.

"What could that brat bring me?" asked Murky. "Oh well. Let's go Lurky."

"How are we gonna get up there?" asked Lurky, scratching his head.

"Easy! Like this!" cried Murky as he touched a gloved finger to his Belt. The negative rainbow once again burst forth and created a pathway that connected directly to the cliffs. Murky and Lurky stepped onto it and were automatically sliding up the path.

Stormy tried not to let the surprise on her face give her way. She had had no idea that Murky would be able to use the Color Belt for transportation as Rainbow had. Carefully, so as not to knock Rainbow off, she slid from Skydancer and faced Murky. Arms crossed, she stated angrily, "I'm giving you Rainbow Brite. She's pathetic and useless as she is. We don't need her anymore."

Murky grinned like a child in a candy shop. This was a dream come true! "Ah I see," he answered with mock seriousness. "Yes, she does look quite useless."

"Take her away from me. The sight of her sickens me!"

Lurky made a move to go and fetch Rainbow off of Skydancer's backside, but Murky stopped him. "Not that way. This way. Let's have a little fun with her!" he cackled as his finger pressed the Belt. Another negative rainbow shot forth, and before Stormy could react, it had wrapped itself around Rainbow, binding her tightly. It lifted Rainbow from Skydancer, and Murky got his first glimpse at the side of her face that was bruised; the shadow spot not only showed on the left side of her face, but also her neck and down to her fingertips on that side. _So that's how they figured out something was wrong. The invisibility potion is wearing off. No worries!_

"No!" replied Stormy in a fearful whisper. This hadn't been part of the plan at all. She hadn't meant for Murky to actually take Rainbow from her. _I've got to distract him…maybe if I can do that, Moonglo can still get the Color Belt!_

**Will Stormy and Moonglo be able to get the Color Belt back and save Rainbow in the process?  
**


	11. Revival of Rainbow

**Right...so after I posted chapter 10 last Sunday, not only did I finish chapter 13, but I also finished chapter 14 in record time because I was so inspired. So this story is completely finished, with a total of 14 chapters. I'll still post chapters once a week as before, so unless you know where I've posted the rest of the story, you'll have to wait patiently. I'm currently working on story notes for my next long shot, which will be entitled "Lost Storms" and working on a side project called "The Color Kid Diaries". I won't post the CKD project here yet, as I want the first set to be completely finished. So far, I've received some great feedback on it, and hope that you all will enjoy it too.**

**Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. Keep an eye out for chapter 12 next weekend!  
**

**Chapter 11 Revival of Rainbow **

Murky cackled. "Oh you've done it now! You've given me the last piece for my plan. Watch what I do to her now!" The rainbow that bound Rainbow tightly began to sway back and forth, getting closer and closer to the edge. Stormy knew that Murky was taunting her, so she raised her hand to the sky, concentrating on drawing together a group of clouds separate from the ones that already were in the vicinity. White lightning crackled and boomed. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Rainbow still being tossed about. She directed her lightning strikes to where Murky stood. Murky side-stepped her attack and glared, before directing his eyes toward Rainbow.

Stormy could only watch in horror as he used the negative rainbow to toss Rainbow against a grouping of rocks. She was seething mad and turned her attention directly to Murky, concentrating more than ever on hitting her target. He continued to dance and sidestep her attacks, which only made her angrier. She had completely forgotten about Moonglo and Starlite when she saw the faint outline of a hand near Murky before it disappeared. She blinked, thinking she had been seeing things. Suddenly, the plan came back to her and she knew she hadn't been seeing things, only Moonglo signaling to her.

Again, Stormy began her attack, but deliberately missed Murky, who laughed at her sudden incompetence. "Seems you've lost your touch!" he called glibly.

Stormy ignored his remarks, her eyes focused on Murky's waist and the Color Belt. "Come on, Moonglo… come on…" she whispered to herself as she continued to miss hitting Murky. Each passing second felt like a minute to her, but finally she thought she saw the Belt loosening at Murky's waist. All of a sudden, the Belt swung free, and Murky quickly realized that he was missing his new toy.

A large bolt of lightning flew from the sky, striking Murky. It wasn't enough to do much harm to him, but it was enough to knock him out. Stormy grinned in triumph as she watched the Belt seemingly float away and disappear behind a group of rocks. Lurky rushed to Murky's side, forgetting to deal with Stormy or chase after the Color Belt. Stormy rushed to where Rainbow had been tossed and quickly checked her over for injury. Spotting nothing, she figured it'd be all right to take her back to Rainbow Land. She pulled Rainbow into a sitting position as Starlite leapt from behind the group of rocks that the Color Belt had disappeared behind. Moonglo sat triumphantly on his back, Belt in hand.

Sliding from Starlite, she rushed to the other side of Stormy, and together the two girls worked to put Rainbow's Color Belt around her waist. Belt secure, they lifted Rainbow onto Skydancer, who had knelt to the ground to make things easier. "Look!" called Moonglo. Stormy looked to where her finger pointed, and noticed that Rainbow's Color Belt was now faded in color, but it was no longer grey.

"We've got to hurry. Murky won't wake for a bit." Carefully, Skydancer rose and Stormy leapt onto his backside. Moonglo climbed back onto Starlite, with Twink sitting behind her.

"Let's head back to Rainbow Land!" called Stormy as Skydancer took off trotting. Starlite followed.

"Murky? Uhh, Murky?" called Lurky as he shook Murky's body. "It's not sleepy time, Murky." Lurky continued to try to wake Murky.

Meanwhile, Stormy crossed the border into Rainbow Land. She couldn't remember feeling so happy to be there. She quickly led the others to a clearing and dismounted. Moonglo and Twink followed suit. Skydancer knelt to the ground, and the girls worked to get Rainbow off his back and onto the forest floor.

"Twink, we need some good star sprinkles," instructed Moonglo.

Twink reached into the pouch at his side, and pulled out a handful of colorful star sprinkles. He deposited them into Stormy's outstretched hand. "What if this doesn't work?" he asked worriedly.

"We're not going to think about that Twink," answered Moonglo. She knelt on Rainbow's left side, trying not to look at the large shadow spot that covered most of her face and parts of her body.

"It's going to work," replied Stormy, leaving no room for argument. She held the star sprinkles to the Color Belt. At first, nothing happened, and Stormy frowned. This was what Rainbow had always done with the star sprinkles. She held the star sprinkles closer to the star on the Color Belt, and slowly, a soft white light began to glow. It was very weak, and soon the star sprinkles were gone from Stormy's hand. "I think we need more…that didn't seem like it did much."

"Look at the Belt, Stormy," interrupted Moonglo. "It's not so faded anymore."

"Murky musta drained the Color Belt completely," added Twink. "We'll need lots of star sprinkles to charge it again!"

"We don't have a lot of time!" said a frustrated Stormy.

"I'll take Twink to the other sprites," interjected Starlite. "I am the fastest horse in all the universe; I'll be back before you know it!"

Twink nodded in agreement and hopped onto Starlite's back. "We won't be long!" he yelled as Starlite dashed for the Color Castle.

Moonglo looked to Stormy, and saw the anger that was evident on her face. "How long will Murky be out?" she asked softly.

"A half hour at most. It was just a stunning shot more than anything. I needed to give us time to escape." Moonglo nodded, but didn't reply. The girls sat in silence, one on either side of Rainbow. Each of them wished that Twink and Starlite would hurry back.

Within ten minutes, Starlite galloped back into the clearing. Twink jumped from his back, a sack of star sprinkles as big as himself on Starlite. "I've got plenty!" said Twink as he pulled the bag from Starlite. Out spilled the star sprinkles of various colors. Stormy went to gather a handful, but didn't have the chance. The entire pile began glowing. At first, it was the same weak glow as before, but it grew in brightness. Stormy and Moonglo shielded their eyes from the brightness. Twink hid behind Starlite. A low humming noise could be heard, and Stormy dared to squint to see what was happening.

Suddenly, the glowing halted and there were no more star sprinkles to be seen on the ground. They had all been absorbed into the Color Belt, which now shown brightly around Rainbow's waist. "Moonglo, Twink, look!" she shouted, getting the other two to look at Rainbow. Starlite and Skydancer watched in silent amazement.

Without being touched, the Color Belt activated itself and a colorful rainbow shot forth, a sight to see in the grey landscape. It enveloped Rainbow in its light, and created a cocoon around her body. For a few minutes, the rainbow acted as a protective shell around Rainbow. She was raised into the air, and the rainbow grew brighter. Stormy, Twink, and Moonglo squinted and watched. As suddenly as it had begun, the rainbow cocoon lowered to the ground and unwrapped itself from around Rainbow before disappearing back into the Color Belt.

Twink blinked to adjust to the normal lighting and was the first to notice the changes. "Look! The shadow spot! It's gone!"

Stormy and Moonglo studied Rainbow's face, noticing that Twink was indeed correct. "You're right, Twink," replied Moonglo.

"Now the only question is what happens next," murmured Stormy, keeping an eye on Rainbow's face.

Slowly, Rainbow's eyes opened. She blinked, not used to the light. Slowly, she sat up, hand to her head. "Ohhh…what happened?" she asked groggily. "I feel like I've been murked out."

"Murky got you! And the Belt!" Twink cried.

Rainbow groaned, trying to wake herself fully. She had no idea why she felt so exhausted. "What do you mean?"

"We can tell you later," interrupted Stormy. "We've got to take care of Murky right now. He should still be knocked out, but we've got to get the Color Kids back."

"Murky has the Color Kids?!" This fully woke Rainbow.

"Yes, and he did have your Belt, but we got that back," added Moonglo.

"Murky's had fun with tricks and traps. We need to take care of him. We need a plan," stated Stormy.

Rainbow nodded. "We need to get him into Rainbow Land so I can take care of him."

Moonglo looked up. "What if we convince him that you never woke up?"

"What are you talking about, Moonglo?" asked Stormy.

"Murky knows what we were going to do with the Color Belt. We can trick him by saying that the Color Belt didn't restore Rainbow."

"That's a really good idea, Moonglo," replied Rainbow, nodding in approval.

"We need to figure out how to get the Color Kids back too," added Stormy.

The girls continued to talk, making improvements to the plan. It became more complex, but it was almost certain that Murky would fall for it. The idea was that Rainbow would return to the Color Castle with Twink. She would lay in her bed, feigning unconsciousness. Twink would cover her face and arms with black soil to represent the shadow spot. Twink would then pretend to mourn over her. Stormy and Moonglo would return to the Pits and surrender the Color Castle to Murky. They would tell him to come see for himself if he didn't believe them. It was expected that Murky would fall for the lies, and then it would be up to Rainbow and Twink to play convincing roles so that Rainbow could execute a surprise attack.

While all the action was taking place in Rainbow Land, Starlite would take some star sprinkles with him to the Pits, which would alert him to the location of the Color Kids. He would take Rainbow and Twink to the Color Castle first, then head the roundabout way back toward the Pits, taking care not to cross paths with Murky and Lurky. It was hoped that he'd have enough time to find the Color Kids and free them before Murky returned.

"Everyone know what to do?" asked Rainbow. Stormy, Moonglo, Twink, and Starlite nodded. "Then let's take care of Murky!"

Rainbow and Twink climbed aboard Starlite while Stormy and Moonglo climbed onto Skydancer. "Good luck!" called Rainbow.

"Good luck to you too!" replied Moonglo as Stormy guided Skydancer toward the Pits. Each group took off, feeling hopeful and optimistic for once since the whole ordeal had begun.

Starlite galloped quickly toward the Color Castle. "Are you sure Murky will believe them?" he questioned.

"Murky's pretty gullible," replied Rainbow. "And he'll do anything to get my Color Belt again."

"He won't get it this time!" added Twink.

"He may be gullible, but will he fall for this trick?" questioned Starlite again, still uncertain.

"We don't know, but we have to believe!" encouraged Rainbow.

Starlite stopped in front of the Color Castle and dropped his two passengers off. Twink quickly brought him a small brown cloth bag. "Here you go, Starlite. Enough star sprinkles to help you find the Color Kids."

"This is not very dignified," retorted Starlite as he took the bag in his mouth. He mumbled a goodbye to Rainbow and Twink and took off for the Pits.

"Let's get to work, Twink. You go get some of that black soil in the nearby forest."

"Right," replied Twink, nodding.

"I'll meet you in my room. We'll show Murky what the real owner of the Color Belt can do!"

Meanwhile, Stormy and Moonglo were discussing their parts to play while riding toward the Pits. "Do you think Murky will believe us?" asked Moonglo in a worried voice.

"I think so," answered Stormy. "It's going to be hard to pretend that we've given up."

"We have to do that or he won't believe us."

"I think Murky will believe anything… as long as it gets him the Color Belt back." When she didn't get a reply, she turned her head, noticing that Moonglo kept her eyes on her lap. "Rainbow thinks it'll work out. Trust Rainbow."

"Mmhmm" was the only reply Moonglo gave.

Stormy glanced ahead and saw that they were ready to cross into the Pits. "Here goes…Skydancer, lower your head some." Skydancer complied with his mistress's command.

"Murky! Wake up Murky!" Lurky had been attempting to wake him up for over twenty minutes and was having no luck.

Murky's fingers began to twitch as he returned to consciousness. His fingers slowly became fists, and he growled as Lurky continued to shake him. "Get…off… bozo…brain…" he instructed.

"Oh Murky! You're awake!"

"Yes… and Stormy will pay for this!" Murky slowly pulled himself into a sitting position.

Lurky glanced around the area, looking for Stormy. He spotted her upon Skydancer. "Look Murky! There she is!"

Leaping to his feet, Murky curled his hands into fists. "Good. We need something to get rid of her and Moonglo too."

"They don't look so happy, Murky," noted Lurky, pointing.

"Hmm…I wonder what they're up to…" mused Murky. "Perhaps this could work out for me after all…"

**So...will their plan work? Or will it backfire right into Murky's hands?**


	12. Surrender, Rescue, and Trickery

**In a rather good mood, so I figured I'd upload chapter 12 a bit earlier than usual for everyone read. Only 2 chapters remain after this one, and they only get better and better. I've been work on both my Color Kid Diaries project and my Lost Storms project. I have about 6 entries left for the CKD one and then I have 2 chapters finished for Lost Storms. If you're interested in a sneak peek of those, you'll have to join the forums through . That's the only way you'll see either of them early on! Enjoy the chapter, and let me know any feedback.**

**Chapter 12 Surrender, Rescue, and Trickery**

"Ready?" whispered Stormy.

"Yes," replied Moonglo in the same whispered voice.

Stormy urged Skydancer on at a slow pace. There was no need to hurry, when she had to pretend they were surrendering. She hated pretending to be this weak though… to give into Murky seemed such a low thing to do indeed. Skydancer whinnied a reply, as though reading her mind. "It's okay… we're almost there…" she soothed as she patted his mane. She could tell that he didn't like playing any part in this surrender game; it simply wasn't in his nature to give up willingly.

Closer and closer they came to the same spot where they had just recently taken back the Color Belt from Murky's grimy hands. Stormy soon slowed Skydancer and a bewildered Murky and Lurky watched as she spoke. "We give up," she said, dropping her head. "Rainbow Land is yours."

Moonglo shook her head. "We couldn't bring Rainbow back. We tried…but it didn't work. You win, Murky Dismal."

Murky couldn't believe what he was hearing from the two. It sounded too good to be true. Rainbow not able to be revived? The gloom shadow must have worked better than he had thought it would. However, something didn't settle right. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" he asked cautiously.

"It's not a trick," replied Stormy. "You can go to the Color Castle and see for yourself."

"Why the Color Castle? I'm sure you've set a trap and are lying!"

"We had to take her back to Rainbow Land to get the Color Belt to work. You know she's powerless in the Pits," Moonglo reminded him.

"Murky, does this mean we get the horseys too?" interjected Lurky with a thoughtful smile on his face.

"Quiet bozo brain!" hissed Murky. To Stormy and Moonglo he said, "True, but I still don't trust you. How can I be sure this is real?"

Stormy quickly tried to think of a reply, but had nothing to respond with. They hadn't discussed this part and what they'd do if Murky didn't trust them. She was about to speak and distract him, when Moonglo spoke up.

"Because we're giving ourselves to you. We'll be your new slaves, Murky." Moonglo lowered her head and held out her wrists, waiting for them to be cuffed.

Stormy covered her mouth in surprise; Moonglo did sound pretty convincing. She followed in Moonglo's steps and held out her wrists. "Yes. We wouldn't do this if we thought Rainbow could help us," she added.

On the inside, Murky was grinning with glee. How he'd longed to hear those words! How he'd seen a scene so very similar to this in his mind. "Lurky, fetch me some rope! We'll put these two to good use!"

Lurky ran off clumsily for the laboratory to get the requested rope. Murky rubbed his hands together, gleefully plotting the many things he could do. He could use Stormy's power to destroy the rest of Rainbow Land and keep it dark and gloomy. He'd find a use for Moonglo… he preferred not to use her current power… no sane person would ever want to see the night sky bright and full of color.

Starlite slowly made his way through the forest, keeping an eye toward the direction of the cliff where he knew Stormy and Moonglo would be surrendering to Murky. He had taken the long way around and now was searching for a back cave entrance into the Pits. The trick was to find it and then find a way in. Down the steep rock faces he trod, being careful of each step. He didn't want to set off a tiny avalanche of rocks, especially not before Murky left for Rainbow Land.

_I swear… never again will I carry a bag like a common horse!_ he thought to himself, swishing his multi-colored tail in defiance. To the left, something caught his eye. He looked closer, and saw that it was indeed some sort of entrance into Murky's lair. To get to it, he'd have to go down deeper into the Pits and then climb up the slanted rock face to get to what he hoped was the entrance.

Slowly, slowly, he continued downward, sighing in relief when he reached a flat surface that was level with the entrance. However, he was disappointed to see that there was a steep drop not three feet in front of him that separated his ledge from the entrance. He was left with only one option – jump across the wide gap and hope that he'd make it. _Why, there's no such thing as "hoping"! I know I can make it across… such a feat is easy for a horse like me!_ Starlite studied the distance, calculating his jump. Slowly, he backed up as far as he could and gripped the bag of star sprinkles in his mouth tightly. On silent hooves he raced for the ledge, propelling himself outward at the very last moment.

Starlite soared through the air, the wind catching his mane and tail. Within moments he had landed safely on the other side, right in front of the entrance. _That was no trouble at all!_ He moved closer, spying that there was no wooden door to enter through. The entrance was merely hidden by a dirty, grimy, grey cloth that helped it to blend better into the Pits. Starlite never would have found it if part of the cloth hadn't been torn away from its hangings. Pushing the cloth aside, he edged his way into the cavern, getting a feel for the height and width. He noted that it could easily accommodate him, and tried to decide which way to go. He took a few test steps to the left, and then a few test steps to the right. _If I were Murky Dismal, where would I go? _he wondered to himself. To the left, the path seemed to slant uphill a bit, while to the right it seemed to slant downhill. _Why, I'd hide the Color Kids in the deepest part of the Pits!_ he deduced.

Slow and careful steps to the right told him he was on a gentle incline. After a few moments, he decided to try some of the star sprinkles. He carefully set the bag down and used his nose to nudge it open. Carefully, he gripped one of the tiny star sprinkles in his mouth and then used a hoof to seal the bag up. There was no point in using more star sprinkles then necessary. He tossed the star sprinkle into the air, hoping that it would work as it had all those years ago when young Wisp had come to Rainbow Land.

At first, nothing happened. Just as Starlite was afraid it'd merely clatter onto the cavern floor, it began to glow, dimly at first, but then it grew brighter. The glow propelled it from it's fall and it rose in front of Starlite's face. Quickly, Starlite grabbed the bag in his mouth and began chasing after the star sprinkle, which acted as a sort of flashlight in the cavern. He raced after it, down one tunnel and then another, not knowing where it was going to take him, only knowing that it surely must lead him to the Color Kids. Murky must have really planned well this time to hide the Kids so deeply below the surface.

The star sprinkle raced onward, zipping and zapping until it finally slowed upon entering a large open cavern. Now the star sprinkle moved slowly across the cavern, until it stopped above what appeared to be a hole in the ground. Starlite moved closer, and saw that the hole had bars over it, bars meant for prisoners. He squinted and peered over the edge and there, in the light of the star sprinkle, sat the Color Kids, cover with a fine mist of gloom cloud. Starlite dropped the pouch from his mouth. "Kids!" he cried out. They didn't reply, as he had known they wouldn't. "I've got to find a way to get rid of this gloom cloud!" he stated to himself as he began wandering about the cavern, looking for a way to destroy whatever was creating the clouds.

Meanwhile, back at the Color Castle, Twink was just returning with a pouch of the dark soil that Rainbow had requested. He brought it to her room, where she sat waiting patiently on her bed. She jumped off when Twink entered through the dark curtains. She had noticed them earlier when she had entered, and wondered why they had been put up. It seemed strange to have them hanging there, and over her window too.

"Are you sure about this, Rainbow?" asked Twink as he sat the pouch down.

"Yes, Twink. This is the only way to make it look like I'm still under that spell of Murky's."

"You mean you don't mind being all dirty?"

"Twink, it's the only way I can trick Murky and take care of him. He's done some bad things."

Twink nodded slowly. "I know. He got you and he took the Color Kids and he hurt Stormy too."

"So that's why she looked a little bruised and had those small cuts on her hands."

Twink nodded again. "Uh huh. She tried to get the Color Belt back from Murky, but he used it against her."

Rainbow gave Twink a determined smile. "Well, I'll take care of him. He'll learn that he isn't the one who takes care of Rainbow Land."

"Right!" Twink held up the bag of soil for Rainbow, who took it from his hands and set it down on her dresser.

"Now Twink, help me figure out where I should put this, okay? It's gotta be where Murky saw it before."

Twink climbed up onto the dresser and pointed to her left cheek. "It was all over your face here, and it went down your neck too. You could even see it on your left hand!"

Rainbow took a small pinch of the soil and began to rub it into her face, watching the tiny purple star on her cheek slowly disappear under all the darkness. She slowly worked on covering the left side of her face. "Twink, I need you to cover my hand for me."

"Why?"

"If the left side of my face and my left hand were the places covered by the gloom, then seeing my right hand also looking gloomy might tip Murky off that this is a trap."

"Oh! I get it," replied Twink as he set to work spreading the soil over her hand, careful not to get it onto her sleeve. He finished covering her entire hand and looked down at his own. "Yuck!"

Rainbow studied herself in the large mirror. "I think it'll work. Now all we have to do is wait for Murky to show up. Twink, go up to the belfry and keep an eye out for him. Come straight back down here when you see him coming down the road to the Color Castle, all right?"

Twink nodded. "Of course!" He dashed off to the stairs that would lead him up to his favorite spot.

Sighing, Rainbow sat back down her on bed, careful to not stain it with the soil she had coated her skin with. Twink had been right – the stuff felt yucky and she felt so dirty. A hot bath later on would definitely be in order, but not until after Murky had been taken care of. _We could all use a break_ she mused to herself. It was hard to sit there and do nothing. She wished that Murky would show up soon. Then again, she hoped that Stormy and Moonglo had been able to convince him of their surrender. She had a feeling that it would have been harder for Stormy, but knew both of the girls would pull through.

The scene rather looked like a funeral procession, only without a coffin. The grunge buggy chugged along slowly, with Lurky as its driver and Murky grinning like a maniac in the sidecar. A single rope was tied to the top of the grunge buggy, and connected to Skydancer's neck. Another rope connected to that, and then led to Stormy's tied wrists. The rope then tied around her waist and connected with another rope that had Moonglo bound in the same fashion. Murky would not even given them the pleasure of riding upon Skydancer's back. No, he wanted to humiliate them. After all, they were going to be his new slaves after Rainbow Land was completely in his hands.

"Just think of all the redecorating I'll have to do!" he sneered as he glanced back at both girls. Neither of them said a word, only kept their faces pointed toward the ground, marching forward. Yes, the sight was a beautiful one for Murky. "You two will be the first to help me out. Maybe one day I'll even figure out how to bring your precious Rainbow Brite back to life…but by then it'll be too late! I'll make her my slave too…or maybe I'll make her a queen…wouldn't that be a funny joke?"

"Haha Murky. You're so funny," commented Lurky.

"Keep driving, cheese log brain," commanded Murky.

Stormy was reminded of some forgotten remnants of a dream she'd had recently, remembering something about waking to find herself with Moonglo, and how they were slaves… she couldn't remember much of the rest of it, only that it'd suddenly changed and she was in some dry desert place… and Rainbow had been there too. She remembered thinking that Rainbow was acting crazy, but she couldn't remember why she thought that. Why did dreams have to be something that you forgot and couldn't quite remember? She focused on keeping her head low, on practicing her surrender face so that it'd look convincing. It felt so wrong to be in this position, to be Murky's "slave" of all things.

"It's okay, Stormy," whispered Moonglo so softly that at first Stormy didn't quite hear her. The sentiment made her feel better about what they were doing, and she knew that Rainbow would pull through. For all the arguing and hating being second best, Stormy knew in her heart that Rainbow would not fail if she had her heart set on something. That was something the two of them had in common – they could both be stubborn, but in different ways.

For once in his life, Murky Dismal did not shrink away during his ride into Rainbow Land. In fact, he welcomed the greys and blacks and whites that greeted his eyes during the ride. He took this as a sign that Stormy and Moonglo had told the truth. If Rainbow truly had been revived, then she would have fixed the color in the land, unable to stand the bleakness of it all. Murky turned around to face the two. "I suppose you were right about Rainbow. She'd never have let Rainbow Land continue to look like this! It's such a beautiful sight to see!"

"Uhh…Murky… are we going straight to the Color Castle?" asked Lurky.

"Yes, Lurky. We must take back my prize… and then I shall make Rainbow Land a beautiful place to live!"

"You mean, put the colors back?" asked Lurky with a smile on his face.

"No you dolt! I'm simply going to completely change everything else. I'll make sure there's no color left!"

"That's not a pretty sight," commented Lurky.

"I…ohhh! Shush up and drive!" commanded Murky.

Stormy and Moonglo had to hide the laughter that threatened to cross their lips. Lurky was great amusement. It's a pity that he'd actually turn out right about the colors in the end. Stormy dared to glance upward. She noticed that the Color Castle wasn't very far off; they were just entering the section of Rainbow Land where many of the sprite houses lined the main path that lead up to the Color Castle.

Murky grinned at the sight of the Color Castle. "Ah yes. What a wonderful place. Now I'll not only be able to control the color in Rainbow Land, but on Earth as well! Everything in it will be mine!" He rubbed his hands together as plans for changing the Color Castle to suit his needs formed in his mind. Yes, he could use that silly Color Console to spread his gloom much further than the boundaries of Rainbow Land. And if he could figure out how to properly do it, why, he could use the rainbow to travel back and forth to the various planets of the galaxy! Yes, his plan could not fail now. He had all of the Kids and one of the horses. Soon he'd have Rainbow Brite as well. Nothing would be able to stop him on this glorious, gloomy day!

**Is Murky going to get his way in the end and Rainbow Land be lost for good? Or will Rainbow and friends win out once more?**


	13. Murky's Rainbow End

**I meant to post this chapter earlier this week, but I got really caught up in my schoolwork. Also, I really hate bus duty. I can't get much work done in my classroom because of it! Anyway, there's only one chapter to go after this... I hope you enjoy this one :) Feedback is always welcome!**

**Chapter 13 Murky's Rainbow End**

"Rainbow! Rainbow! Murky's near the bridge!" shouted Twink, sliding down the rainbow-colored fire fighter style pole.

Rainbow looked up from petting Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite, who were happy to see her. They had found her shortly after Twink had left, and instantly tried to tackle and lick her face. Rainbow had firmly told them no, and then explained the situation as best she could. The two acted like they had understood. "All right you two. Go hide in the Color Castle for now, okay? You don't want Murky and Lurky finding you too!"

Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite leapt from the bed and raced out the doorway to some other part of the Castle. Rainbow smoothed her dress over and looked at Twink. "Ready?" she asked.

Twink nodded. "Yup!"

"Remember to act sad when Murky enters. He's got to believe that I couldn't be brought back." Rainbow lay back in her bed, and closed her eyes as she pulled the blankets over her waist so that it'd hide the Color Belt she wore. She made sure that her hand was visible above the blankets so that Murky could still see his "gloom shadow". Rainbow felt nervous, hoping that Murky would easily fall for the trap they'd set. He'd fallen for it so far if him coming to the Color Castle meant anything. She heard the heavy cloth moving and then voices suddenly filled the room.

"…here, so you say?" asked Murky. He had brought both Stormy and Moonglo with him, marching them in front of him while he had his gloom gun pointed against Moonglo's backside. The ropes still bound their hands and bound them to each other. Lurky had been left outside to tend to Skydancer and the Grunge Buggy.

Stormy slowly lifted her head. "Yeah. We brought her here and put her in bed. The Color Belt wouldn't work though."

"I see," replied Murky as he moved to Rainbow's bedside. He inspected her face and hand, still covered in the gloom shadow.

"See? We weren't lying to you?" added Moonglo in a low voice.

Murky turned to address both Stormy and Moonglo, leaving his backside exposed to Rainbow. "Seems like you were right. I should reward such good slaves, shouldn't I?" He cackled to himself, laughing at his own private joke.

What Murky didn't realize was that behind him, Rainbow had slowly risen from her spot on the bed until she was in a standing position behind him. She winked at Stormy and Moonglo, who gave no sign of recognition. She took a deep breath, and lowered her finger to her Color Belt. "No, Murky Dismal, it's you that need to be rewarded!" she declared, her finger pressing against the star.

Off in the Pits, Starlite was searching for the switch to turn off the gloom cloud. He quickly found the box that Murky had been storing the liquid in, and examined it closely. "Hmm… I wonder if this switch will do the trick?" he asked himself softly. Quickly, he nosed it until it flipped and shut off. He could hear the Kids awakening from the effects of the gloom within moments.

"Let us out of here, Murky!" called Red Butler.

"You'll be sorry if you don't!" added Indigo.

"Rainbow will save us!" tacked on Tickled Pink.

Starlite trotted to the edge of the pit and peered down at the Color Kids. "Starlite!" they exclaimed in surprise and delight.

"Don't worry Kids. I'll get you out of there!" Starlite then noticed the lock that held the doors of the pit together. "After I figure out how to get rid of this lock…I wonder if I can break it…"

"Be careful, Starlite," called Lala Orange. "We don't know if those bars will hold you."

"I wonder if one of you Kids could slip through the bars…Murky made them pretty wide. If one of you could, then you could break the lock I bet!" declared Starlite.

"I'll do it," volunteered Indigo. "I've always wanted to see what it felt like to act out an adventure scene."

"Indigo…" warned Red Butler. "This isn't one of your books!"

"I can do it. I'm small enough to!"

"We all are, Indigo," reminded Shy Violet.

"Let's let her try. We'll get out faster if we stop arguing about it," spoke up Canary Yellow.

Indigo moved toward the edges of the pit and looked for foot and handholds. "I think I can get up some of the way, but I don't know about all of the way."

"I can lower my tail down for you if you can climb high enough," suggested Starlite.

"Is there any rope out there?" asked Patty O'Green.

"Let me look. That would make things easier." Starlite moved about the cavern, but couldn't see very well. He went to his dropped bag of star sprinkles and pulled out another. The light from the star sprinkle illuminated the cavern just brief enough for Starlite to find a pile of Murky's junk in a far off corner. This included the cage he had dropped the Color Kids from. Nosing around in the pile of random metal pieces, he found a small length of rope that was slightly frayed. "I've found some rope, but I don't know how long it will hold for."

Starlite lowered the rope through the bars as the Color Kids watched. It came down about half way. Starlite gave a muffled response, as he held the rope between his teeth. Indigo took that as her cue and began to climb up the side.

"Careful, Indigo," called Lala Orange.

"Keep going," added Buddy Blue.

While everyone else was paying attention to Indigo climbing, Red Butler was inspecting the walls of the pit that surrounded them. His tiny hands reached out, searching for a space, where there seemed to be more hand-holds than any other place. None of the other Kids had thought to inspect the entire Pit and he felt it was his duty to do so. His hands brushed over the stone, searching, hoping he'd find something. His hands brushed over something damp and soft. Red focused on the space in front of him as he felt the object. It was… yes! "Guys, I've found something!" he called.

"What is it?" asked Shy Violet.

"It's a rope! And it looks like we can use it to get out," replied Red Butler triumphantly as he tugged on it. It stayed firmly attached at the other end.

"Indigo! Did you hear that? You don't have to climb anymore!" called Lala Orange.

Indigo, who was already near the rope that Starlite held, shook her head. "I'm almost there."

"Come on, Kids. Let's get out of here!" called Buddy Blue.

"Yeah! Then we can go help Rainbow!" stated Patty O'Green.

"I'm sure she could use our help," added Canary Yellow.

"And then we can stop Murky in his tracks!" said Tickled Pink.

"I'll go first," volunteered Red Butler. He took hold of the rope, pulling on it to test its strength. Satisfied, he slowly began his climb up the rock, carefully watching for any footholds that he could use. In a few minutes, he'd reached the top of the pit where the bars rested. Red grabbed onto the nearest bar, letting the rope drop. He shimmied himself between the bars, pulling himself up through slowly. His upper body was through when he felt himself get stuck at his stomach. _Come on…_ he thought to himself as he sucked in his stomach, giving himself a tiny bit more space to maneuver with. He knew that all the Color Kids were watching him from below and he couldn't fail. He wouldn't allow himself to.

Finally, Red Butler felt himself begin to slip through the bars and pulled himself up the rest of the way. A cheer erupted from the pit below. He looked down, unable to see his friends. "It's not bad," he called. "You have to hold your breath and suck in your stomach when you squeeze through the bars though." He looked across to the other side where Indigo was just pulling herself through.

"Phew! That was tough!" she said.

Starlite spit the rope from his mouth. "Not a very dignified thing for a horse to do!"

Indigo leapt onto the cavern floor and hugged Starlite. "Oh but it was! Such a noble thing for a horse to rescue a princess!"

"Wha?" asked Starlite, bewildered. Indigo simply kept hugging him.

Slowly, each Color Kid used the same rope as Red Butler had to make the climb out of the pit. First came Buddy Blue, then Patty O'Green, then Shy Violet, followed by Canary Yellow, who was followed by Tickled Pink and finally the last Kid up was Lala Orange. Each of them happily hugged Starlite, glad to be away from the gloom and doom of the pit they'd been kept in.

"Now, let's get back to the Color Castle and help Rainbow," shouted Red Butler.

"Yeah!" cried all the Color Kids in agreement.

"Don't worry Kids! Follow me! I remember the way out of these caves!" called Starlite. Red Butler, Patty O'Green, and Tickled Pink climbed onto his backside while the other Color Kids stayed close behind. Since it was so dark, they formed a chain. Buddy held onto the tip of Starlite's tail and then held hands with Lala Orange, who held hands with Canary Yellow, who held hands with Indigo, who held hands with Shy Violet.

Murky quickly jumped when he heard a voice he would have never expected to hear. "R-Rainbow Brite? But how?!" he cried as he turned to face her.

A ribbon of rainbow shot from Rainbow's Color Belt and wrapped itself around Murky, lifting him off the ground. "Put me down!" he cried.

"Gladly!" called Rainbow as the ribbon of color that bound Murky maneuvered its way through the doorway and to the outside of the Color Castle. There, it dropped Murky onto the ground, still keeping him bound in brightly color rainbow ball. Murky struggled to break free, pushing and kicking at his new prison, a bright speck of color in the grey land. The ball held tightly and Murky was left to sit and fume as he watched Rainbow walk from the Color Castle, with Stormy, Moonglo, and Twink following behind her.

"It was…just a joke?...hehe…" attempted Murky feebly.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny," began Twink.

"Jokes don't hurt someone," added Moonglo.

"Or take people as slaves," added Stormy.

Rainbow looked back at both of her friends and then looked at Murky. "You almost destroyed Rainbow Land, Murky Dismal, but you failed. Now you're going to watch as I put all the color back into Rainbow Land."

"I…no!" yelled Murky. "Not the colors! Lurky!"

The bumbling assistant was nowhere to be found and did not answer Murky's call. Murky frantically looked about, but only saw the Grunge Buggy parked near an orange sprite house. Skydancer was nowhere to be seen either.

"Oh yes, Murky. You deserve to see Rainbow Land at its best," replied Rainbow as she pressed a finger to her Color Belt. Murky could only watch as rainbow ribbons shot forth and engulfed the land, replacing greys and whites with brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and all the colors in between. Within a few minutes, Rainbow Land appeared brighter and more beautiful than it had been before, a tribute to the girl who had the honor of wearing the Color Belt.

"No, no, no! Not the colors!" pleaded Murky as he closed his eyes tightly.

Rainbow smiled at her work and the transformation in Rainbow Land. Then she fixed a cold look on Murky. "And now it's time to send you back to the Pits. You should know by now that you can't beat me, Murky. One way or another, the rainbow always wins." With that, she pressed her finger to her Color Belt again, and a ribbon of rainbow slide under the ball that held Murky, causing the ball to roll along the path.

"I'll get you for this, Rainbow Brite!" was Murky's echoing cry heard in the distance as he was carried off to the Pits.

"Hi Murky!" called Lurky, who was riding atop Skydancer's backside. He watched as Murky rolled on past him on the rainbow. Lurky had finally gotten his wish to ride one of the horseys. He didn't know that the only reason Skydancer had let him was so that he could easily get him back to the Pits. "I guess he didn't see me," mused Lurky. Skydancer pressed onward, coming upon the edge of the Pits. "Such a pretty horsey," commented Lurky as he petted Skydancer's mane. In response, Skydancer threw Lurky from his back, and Lurky flew toward the lair and where Murky had landed. "Bye bye horsey!" called Lurky as he waved, still falling from the sky. Skydancer merely turned and headed back to Rainbow Land, meeting up with Starlite and the Color Kids.

"Look! It's Skydancer!" called Tickled Pink.

"Let's follow him! Something must have happened!" replied Red Butler.

"I'll say," said Shy Violet. "Rainbow Land is bright and colorful again. It must be good!"

Rainbow, Twink, Stormy, and Moonglo watched as Murky flew off in the distance, soon disappearing. She turned toward the two girls. "Thanks. Without you two, Rainbow Land never would have been the same again."

"No problem," answered Stormy.

"We couldn't let Murky win," added Moonglo.

Rainbow looked as though she were going to say something else, but then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. "Look! Starlite found the Color Kids!" she cried.

"Rainbow! Rainbow!" cried the Color Kids, crowding around her and showering her with hugs.

"I'm glad everyone's okay. Murky almost beat us there," stated Rainbow. "A celebration is in order, but first, we have lots of work to do. Murky's work must have spread to Earth. Let's get to work!" Behind the Color Castle, a brilliant rainbow shown across the land, the familiar comforting bit of light once again showing that as long as Rainbow Brite was around, good would always triumph over the evil that is Murky Dismal.

**Murky Dismal's been defeated once again! Chapter 14 is the final tying up chapter so stay tuned!**


	14. Kaleidoscope of Promise and Hope

**Here it is, the final chapter in my story. I love this chapter and how it ended. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It makes me happy to know that I was able to finish this long-shot. As many of you know, I'm currently working on 2 new projects in my freetime. One is called Lost Storms and deals with Stormy's past, while the other is called The Color Kid Diaries and works to present an event through each of the Kids' eyes. The CKD is halfway done, and I'm on chapter 3 of Lost Storms. I don't want to post chapters for either just yet though. I will when I have enough to work from though, trust me. In the meantime, you'll probably see a few oneshots from me :)**

**Chapter 14 Kaleidoscope of Promise and Hope**

And so Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids spent the next few days working hard to restore color to Earth. Twink took control of the Color Mines, encouraging the sprites to work harder than they ever had before. Production had stopped during the Color Kids' absence and now everyone had to work hard to get everything back up and running again. Twink ran from section to section in the Color Mines. "Let's go, everyone! Rainbow needs as many star sprinkles as possible and for that she needs all the color crystal we can mine!" The sprites worked eagerly for him and didn't mind his rushed and hurried manner.

The Color Kids worked busily at the Color Console, adding the necessary star sprinkles to bring color to the world around them and beyond. They chattered happily, glad to be free of Murky Dismal and his gloom. Every so often, one of the Color Kids' sprites would bring a new cart of star sprinkles into the room. Kid and sprite would work together to load the sprinkles into the Console, and a brilliant line of color would shoot up the corresponding tube, bringing a smile to each Kid's face.

"If we keep this up, we'll be back on schedule in no time," declared Red Butler.

"Yes. By my calculations, we only need another day before everything's on track," added Shy Violet.

The Kids cheered. It was good to be back to work and bringing color to the world. No more being stuck in one of Murky's pits for a long time. Or so each Kid hoped. "When did Rainbow say she'd be back?" asked Canary Yellow as she and Spark loaded handful after handful of yellow star sprinkles into the Console.

"She said she'd be back by evening I think," replied Patty O'Green.

"Yeah. I think she was heading to a place on Earth near Brian," added Lala Orange.

"She wanted to visit him too if she had time," stated Indigo as she looked at her part of the Console.

"And see how he was," added Buddy Blue

"Starlite was happy to go along too, as long as Rainbow didn't burst his ego again," answered Tickled Pink in an amused tone, which set all of the Color Kids laughing.

Stormy had returned to the clouds, and worked off any anger she felt by creating some much needed rainstorms for Earth. Rainbow had asked her to so that new things would begin to grow as the rain fell to nourish them. Stormy was more than happy to create a storm at Rainbow's request and had fun with the lightning and thunder that followed. Skydancer was also happy to be back in the clouds and raced about the interior of their haven, whinnying happily. For the two of them, things were back to normal. It still wasn't winter, but after the adventure they'd all been through, Stormy was glad that it was spring. She could relax and rest up. She still couldn't shake the dreams she'd had during the ordeal or the thought that Murky had caught her in his trap, something she hadn't been used to at all, but she would be prepared for the next time.

To the others, Rainbow had been as bright and cheerful as ever. She'd happily worked and played alongside them, glad to be awake and out of Murky's clutches. She wouldn't let them see the side of her that had been deeply affected by Murky's plot to take over Rainbow Land. Never before had he used something so devious that had actually almost worked and came so close to destroying Rainbow Land. She wouldn't speak of her worries to her friends, knowing that she wouldn't want to worry them anymore. When she was alone though, it was something that she wondered about, and how she could prevent it in the future.

So of course no one saw the Rainbow Brite that lay awake at night in bed, unable to sleep because of some nightmare she'd had. She would stare at the ceiling, unmoving. Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite were none the wiser, always still sleeping and curled up at the foot of her bed. Rainbow's fingers would absently brush over the Color Belt, and she'd find comfort in this, knowing that she had it and Murky didn't. She couldn't shake the feeling that came with the thought of how close he'd been to making it as his own. From the bits she'd gathered from Stormy and Moonglo, Murky had gone so far as to wear and use it, which was an uncomfortable feeling. Rainbow would roll over in bed and try to go back to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come for another hour or so. She knew her place as the protector of Rainbow Land, but it was going to take awhile before she felt completely confident in that role again.

Moonglo had spent past few days catching up on rest in between her decoratings of the night sky. She had been exhausted after the battle with Murky, never being able to catch enough sleep while Rainbow and then Stormy had been taken out. Rainbow had told her to get some rest and to catch up on sleep, that she'd done enough for a few days. Moonglo, however, was determined to continue doing her job because she knew how many people depended on her beautiful night sky. They may not know she was the one behind it, but they would miss the beautiful sky if she stopped doing her job for a few nights. She rested as much as she could during the day, and spent some of the time reflecting on what had happened with Murky. She was afraid to think of what could have happened if he had won, if the Color Belt truly hadn't worked.

Today was one of those days. It was late afternoon, a few short hours before she would head off into the night sky with Nite Sprite to completely their daily task. She sat by the Rainbow River, against a tall, shady tree. Nite Sprite sat quietly beside her, watching the river. Moonglo had drawn her knees up to her chest, and was lost in thought, not really seeing the beauty of the land before her. Her mind was on the what if's and what could have happened if they could not have revived Rainbow with the Color Belt.

Nite Sprite sensed Moonglo's unrest and looked up at her, concerned. He babbled his sympathy to her, and patted her leg, trying to cheer her up. Moonglo only sighed.

"I know Nite Sprite, but it's hard. There's so much that could have happened."

Nite Sprite replied to her in his sprite language, but this didn't cheer Moonglo any. She sat miserably, hugging her knees. Nite Sprite started to say something else, but not before he saw someone move near Moonglo and sit beside her. It was Stormy. She'd been watching from a distance, and seeing how Moonglo wasn't cheered in the least by Nite Sprite's attempts. She had felt sorry for him, knowing it wasn't his fault.

Stormy took up the same position as Moonglo and looked over at her. "Can't stop thinking about it?" she asked softly.

Moonglo only nodded. "Yeah… it's hard, you know?"

Stormy looked to the ground and picked up a smooth brown stone. She fingered the stone before tossing it into the river. "I know. I've wondered too."

Moonglo turned to look at Stormy with tears in her eyes. "This could have all been Murky's. We could have been working for him today instead of Rainbow."

The tears caught Stormy off guard. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't used to feeling sympathy for someone or trying to comfort them. She'd never had to before. "Hey, don't cry, Moonglo," she said softly, placing a hand on Moonglo's knee.

Moonglo wiped at her eyes. "I can't help it."

"We can't think about what could have happened, Moonglo. We only know what did happen and what we stopped Murky from doing."

"But…"

"No buts. We know what Murky tried this time around, and we'll make sure he doesn't do it again."

"Stormy's right," added a new voice that made them both jump.

"Rainbow!" exclaimed Moonglo in surprise, quickly wiping at her eyes.

"You weren't supposed to be back yet," answered Stormy. "Didn't you have a lot more to take care of on Earth?"

"I did," acknowledged Rainbow. "I also knew I needed to come back here. I had a feeling I should be here instead of on Earth. My work there was finished for the day. I was going to visit Brian, but changed my mind."

"I'm sorry, Rainbow," apologized Moonglo. "I'm sure you heard us talking." She continued to wipe at her eyes, but could not get rid of the redness that was a tell-tale sign of crying.

Rainbow took a seat across from both of them. "It's all right. I've thought about some of the same things, Moonglo," she answered softly. She crossed her legs and looked at the two girls. "Murky could have just as easily won, and that bothers me."

"But Rainbow, we won in the end. You've always been the one to say the rainbow would always win."

"I know, Stormy, but then you told me about what Murky was able to do with the Color Belt. The rainbow could just as easily have won being used by him as it had been by me."

"So what do we do?" asked Moonglo.

Rainbow smiled at them, a true smile. "We keep up doing what we always have. Bad things happen sometimes and it's hard to figure out why. As long as we work against Murky, we can always win out."

Moonglo released the hold on her knees and let her legs settle on the grass. The sun was just beginning to go down, and the sky was streaked with oranges, yellows, and reds. She looked toward the sky at first, knowing that soon it would be her turn to take over. "Are you sure?"

Rainbow nodded. "I never thanked you both for what you did, but I am now. You two are the real heroes of Rainbow Land. You took over when everyone else was gone and helped bring me back, even though it seemed like Murky would win."

"Aww…Rainbow…" replied Stormy, looking shy. She wasn't used to be openly thanked.

"It's true," answered Rainbow. "You two fought against Murky and saved Rainbow Land. Everyone knows what you did. I'm happy to have two friends like you."

"You're welcome, Rainbow," said Moonglo softly as she rose to her feet, Nite Sprite at her side. "I guess it's time for me to take care of the night sky now," she replied as the last bits of the sunset faded.

Rainbow and Stormy stood as well. "Have fun Moonglo. We'll be waiting for you back at the Color Castle," called Rainbow as Moonglo and Nite Sprite disappeared into the sky.

Stormy turned to Rainbow. "Race you back? Skydancer versus Starlite?"

"Sure! It'll be fun," replied Rainbow.

Stormy called for Skydancer as Rainbow called for Starlite. Each girl hoped up onto her horse, and Stormy gave a friendly competitive glare at Rainbow before grinning. "First one back to the Castle is a rotten star sprinkle!" she called as Skydancer suddenly took off.

"That's cheating!" called Starlite. "No respectable horse would get a headstart!" He quickly took off, racing to catch up with Skydancer, who wasn't too far ahead.

"Oh come on, Starlite. No one's faster than you! You can catch her, easily!" encouraged Rainbow, a far cry from the same Rainbow who'd called Starlite out on his inflated ego so many days ago.

Meanwhile, deep in the Pits, Murky had locked himself in his room. He'd stayed there ever since Rainbow had defeated him yet again. He'd spent most of the time in bed, deciding it was better to avoid any dealings in Rainbow Land for awhile. It would take time to come up with a new plan that would top the one he'd just tried and failed at executing. His books lined his shelves, untouched.

Lurky had been his same bumbling self. He'd retrieved the Grunge Buggy from Rainbow Land, and the Color Kids had simply looked the other way as he'd done so, knowing he'd do no harm unless he was with Murky. Lurky had been quite pleased, having had one of his dreams fulfilled the day he'd ended up getting to ride Skydancer. His head had been filled with nothing but the thought of horseys and since Murky had been locked away, Lurky had found some toy horse figures deep in his closet. He spent his hours playing with them, and recreating the ride that meant so much to him.

Murky crawled from bed, knowing it was nightfall. He grabbed his discarded helmet and plopped it back on his head. He headed straight for his bookshelf, intent on finding something that would get rid of Rainbow for awhile. He couldn't stand the sting of losing a battle so big, one that had allowed him to even wear the Color Belt and use it on that pesky Stormy. No, the next time he wouldn't be so unlucky. He would defeat Rainbow Brite and take her Belt again, even if it meant getting outside help to do so. There had to be others out there who would be more than happy to help him destroy the brat, others like the princess who had visited not long ago. Yes, Rainbow had won…this time.

Starlite ended up beating Skydancer to the Color Castle by a nose, but Stormy took the loss good-naturedly. "Good race," she called to Rainbow as she dismounted from Skydancer and the horse took off into the darkness, quickly disappearing.

"It was. I forgot how fun it could be," replied Rainbow as Starlite trotted off.

"No problem for such a magnificent horse!" he called over his shoulder, rainbow mane disappearing into the darkness.

Stormy and Rainbow laughed as they headed into the Color Castle to join the rest of the Color Kids. It wasn't often that everyone was around to have dinner together, and each Color Kid had gladly helped in the task of making it. From gathering the vegetables to cooking sweet snacks, to setting the tables, everyone had pitched in to make it a dinner to remember for a long time to come. Stormy and Rainbow joined in on the finishing touches before everyone sat down to eat. Moonglo joined the group just as everyone sat down.

Red Butler picked up his glass of fruit juice and held it up. "A toast to Rainbow, Stormy, and Moonglo for all that they did to stop Murky this time around. Without them all, we'd still be stuck in Murky's pits, and that would have been the pits!" This remark elicited laughter from around the table. Red Butler continued, "We're thankful for everything you all did and that Rainbow Land is one again safe and sound!" Glasses were clinked together as dinner was shared amongst them all, hope and promise returned to Rainbow Land and the protection that they knew would come from their beloved Rainbow Brite.

**~ Fin ~**


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